Monrovia — Family members are demanding Justice in the death of their son, Blessings Yeayou, who got killed in a raid carried out by the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency at New Georgia Junction along Japan Freeway in Gardnersville.
According to family sources, the late Blessings Yeayou, a commercial bus driver, was seen among drug users when LDEA officers raided a suspected hideout for drug abusers.
The 27-year-old died after officers of the LDEA on Friday, June 28, 2024, besieged and raided drug users at New Georgia Junction in what they described as an "operative raid" along Japan Freeway, family details.
They are demanding a thorough investigation into circumstances that led to his demise, lamenting that he was unmercifully strangulated, tortured, stabbed, and allegedly killed because of his money and other valuable items he had in his possession when LDEA agents chased him into a hideout, where he had run for rescue.
Speaking on the unfortunate incident, one of the siblings of the deceased Cephus Boto directly accused officers of the LDEA of allegedly stabbing and strangulating the late Blessings Yeayou to death in a swamp.
According to Boto, his late brother was never a drug user but rather a commercial bus driver who had gone in search of a meal to eat when the LDEA conducted the raid in the community.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
"My brother is not a zogo; he's a bus driver and do not take drugs. It was Friday, June 28, during a heavy downpour, when he came home and asked our mother to cook red oil. By then, he had gone on the road and saw his friends eating meat-pepper soup.
He took a spoon to join them to eat. At the time, few LDEA officers had come to raid the area, and he was sitting there eating when the LDEA officers raided, whether you are part or not, they raided all of your, and because he had his rent and people reported money on him, he ran into the swamp, and they chased him there, beat him, strangulated him, and shoved his head into the water", Boto explained.
He noted that the deceased had flown for safety because he had a huge sum of money with him and was in the midst of his friends when the LDEA agents launched the raid.
"Blessings was hungry and wanted to eat, so he had gone to eat with his friends, and because he had his rent and bus report money on him, he ran into the swamp, and three DEA officers ran behind him into an old house where he had hidden," Boto continued.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Armed Force of Liberia Sergeant Thomas Yeayou, the father of the late Blessings, regrets the death of his son, saying the family will pursue justice.
"How my son was killed is so frustrating, and I want the government to do something," Sergeant Yeayou laments.
Theresa David, a foster mother, insists, "We need Justice, the investigation the DEA conducted didn't satisfy us."
The Officer-In-Charge of the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Christopher Peters, says the Agency regrets the death of victim Yeayou.
O-I-C Peters told the NEW DAWN that the sad incident occurred during an "operative raiding" at New Georgia Community.
He notes that the primary responsibility of the LDEA is to protect lives, promote security, and prevent illicit drugs, trafficking, and abuse, but the Agency is saddened about the man's death.
"Our cardinal responsibility is to protect lives and property; drug offenders are to be arrested and prosecuted, so it is saddening to lose a life," Peters adds.
According to him, on June 28, 2024, at 1600hrs, the LDEA received a report mentioning that some of its officers assigned at Gardnersville Town Hall reportedly raided around the New Georgia Junction community. It was then the lifeless body of the deceased was pulled out of a pond of water when the exercise turned raucous as those within the parameters fled for fear of being arrested. Editing by Jonathan Browne
