Students back in school 
Students returning to school
Police in Harper Maryland County have categorically denied allegations of a continuous random mass summary arrests following four days of rioting by angry youth last week in connection with the murder of Bill Myers.
According to Chief Superintendent Jacob Kummeh, County Commander of the Liberia National Police Maryland Detachment, all arrests made were based on video and pictorial records from officers who he said had managed to have taken pictures and video recordings as they came under a volley of missiles ranging from stones to pieces of metals and anything the rioters could lay hands on.
He said the 16 persons who were retained for further screening and investigation out of a total of 58 arrested have already been sent to court and the matter is now out of his jurisdiction – noting, however, that only one additional person was arrested yesterday and is currently at the police holding cell waiting to be forwarded to court on Monday. This now brings a total of 17 who have been charged with various degrees for their part in the riots.
“You watched what happened as journalists. While we were stoned, our camera phones were on and we took pictures” he said in an interview.
“An additional one person was arrested and is the only one currently in the holding cell. He will be sent to court today,” he added.
I have been able to independently verify the police Commander’s claims when I paid an early morning visit to the Maryland County Police Headquarters on Gregory Street on Monday.
I saw only two inmates in the holding cell: the other, who was naked, is said to be a madman named Mohammed Smith, arrested on Sunday for attacking an elderly man at the town of Weah Village outside of Harper along the highway to Pleebo. From pictures I saw in the Commander’s phone, the old man – name not given – was apparently wounded in the assault by this “crazy man”, Mohammed Smith.
At the same time, the Maryland County Police Chief has described as baseless, false, misleading and preposterous, reports from some quarters that a 10:00 pm moratorium on motorcycles in the Harper District area has been effectuated by the County Administration and executed by him.
Chief Superintendent Kummeh said at no time did he even receive such communication from any authority to that effect.
Meanwhile, there is a greater sense of normalcy in Harper.
Monday, 4th February saw the resumption of academic activities at grade schools after an entire week was wasted as a result of these riots. School kids could be seen trooping to their various campuses and vehicular traffic sped by as usual.
The visible presence of personnel from the police ERU is not as prominent as it was last week but the police station itself is still more heavily guarded than usual.
As I took an early morning ride through the city and its central market area around lower Mechlin, Green and Water Streets, market stalls were being prepared for a “normal day’s” activity and everything looked fine.
In a related development, Superintendent George Prowd met with chiefs, elders and other traditional leaders of major towns along the western coast of Harper District where the murder of Bill Myers took place. A six man committee was set up to help in tracking down the perpetrators of the crime.
However, participants of that meeting said ‘their hands were tied’ in reference to modern human rights laws which forbids the traditional “trial by ordeal’ method.
It is still not clear whether the Government will oblige to shed or temporarily suspend these “modern laws” and international treaties and involve the “traditional trial by ordeal” to help in tracking down the doer(s) of this heinous crime – the root cause of all this destruction and disruption by youths who formed an integral part of the saga and rocked Cape Palmas to its core.