Residents of the Wood Camp community in Paynesville are raising concerns about excessive force and potential violations of due process following the arrest of four men on Thursday, including a man who was still recovering from a motorcycle accident.
Witnesses say Alvin Mulbah, who had been treated at the ELWA Hospital and bandaged for a head injury sustained from a motorcycle accident a day earlier, was at his home when officers arrived. According to onlookers, Mulbah complied and stepped outside to meet the police but was immediately pepper sprayed during the arrest. In the process, he dropped a bag, and when he attempted to pick it up, an officer allegedly pointed a gun at him, threatening to shoot if he touched it. A bystander who tried to retrieve the bag was also warned at gunpoint.
Elsewhere in the community, another man, identified only as George, was apprehended at an entertainment establishment. Witnesses say he offered no resistance, yet was dragged out by officers holding him by the collar. Two additional men, whose names were not immediately available, were also taken into custody.
Eyewitnesses report that all four men were beaten and pepper sprayed before being dragged through the street. Mulbah, already injured from his accident, began bleeding from the nose during the encounter. His girlfriend had to plug his nose with tissue to stop the bleeding.
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To disperse onlookers, officers fired two rounds into the air. Residents say the shots, coupled with threats from armed officers, were aimed at intimidating both the suspects and bystanders -- all of whom were unarmed and offered no resistance. Importantly, eyewitnesses told the Daily Observer that LNP Zone 5 Depot Commander Matthew Davis was present at the scene where the shooting took place. The officer who is said to have discharged his weapon is identified only as "AB".
Bystanders also reported that several children were present during the incident and were left terrified by the gunfire and the beatings. One woman, badly injured on her hand after falling in shock when she heard the shots, had to be rushed to the hospital. She was later released but remains deeply traumatized by the experience.
The men are now being held at the Zone 5 police depot in Joe Bar, Paynesville, which Davis heads. Police there have refused to disclose why the men were arrested, saying only that they are "under investigation" and will remain in custody overnight. Family members and friends complain that repeated efforts to get clarity have been met with silence.
Under Article 21(f) of the 1986 Constitution, "every person arrested or detained shall be formally charged and presented before a court of competent jurisdiction within forty-eight hours." Legal analysts note that the Constitution does not permit indefinite detention without charge, nor does it sanction the use of force against suspects who do not resist arrest.
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"The police have a duty to protect life and property, not to brutalize citizens," one Monrovia-based lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Daily Observer. "Firing live rounds in a residential community and beating unarmed men amounts to reckless endangerment and a violation of their constitutional rights."
The Daily Observer made several attempts to reach the Liberia National Police spokesperson for comment, but a phone call and a WhatsApp message were not answered by press time.
