Liberia: Morlu Accuses Boakai Government of ‘Selective Justice’ As Protest Gun Drama Eclipses U.S.$19.2m Cocaine Probe
STAND Chairman Mulbah K. Morlu has accused the Boakai administration of “hypocrisy at its most glaring and disturbing level,” saying the government deployed dozens of armed police officers to surround his home within hours over a recovered pistol while showing no comparable urgency against those implicated in the US$19.2 million cocaine scandal at Roberts International Airport.
His broadside, delivered after his release from police headquarters, has transformed a weekend firearm controversy into a direct challenge to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s handling of the country’s largest drug case, and deepened a political standoff that now pits the opposition Congress for Democratic Change against the ruling Unity Party.
“The Boakai administration swiftly mobilized heavily armed police officers to surround my residence with dozens of armed police and unjustly portray me as ‘armed and dangerous’ for securing a weapon from an intruder who posed a potential threat to a peaceful demonstration and the safety of citizens,” Morlu said. “Yet, those implicated in the US$19 million cocaine scandal have not faced the same urgency, intensity, or show of state power directed at me, Bucky Raw, and ordinary Liberians.”
“If this government can deploy overwhelming force against dissenting voices within hours, then it must demonstrate an even greater commitment (by far greater in strength and force) in dismantling the networks behind the cocaine trade,” he added. “There can be no selective justice and no protected interests. July 17 was not the conclusion; it was the awakening of a movement for accountability, and we will not relent until those responsible for poisoning our nation with drugs are brought to justice.”
The controversy erupted during Friday’s “Lead or Leave” protest, organized by the Solidarity and Trust for a New Day (STAND) to pressure the Boakai administration over economic hardship, corruption and governance. The demonstration took a dramatic turn when Morlu publicly displayed a pistol he said protesters had recovered from an unidentified individual he described as a government operative planted among the crowd.
“We will take back the gun and turn it over to the international community tomorrow (Saturday) morning,” Morlu declared at the protest, which ended without organizers presenting their petition after Inspector General of Police Gregory O. W. Coleman declared the Executive Mansion off-limits to demonstrators.
The Liberia National Police instructed Morlu to surrender the firearm. He initially refused, and officers surrounded his residence on Friday night, prompting a defiant response.
“Gregory Coleman, you are a coward who protects drug dealers while harming innocent citizens. I will never fear a lawless police commander like you even if you bring war-tanks to surround my home,” Morlu said.
On Saturday morning, Morlu surrendered the weapon through the Paynesville City Court before being taken to LNP headquarters, where he gave a statement and was released to his lawyer.
“The struggle continues. The cartel must be dismantled brick by brick and piece by piece to make Liberia a drug-free society,” he told reporters afterward.
Coleman confirmed the firearm, which police acknowledge belongs to the LNP, has been recovered, and said investigators are working to determine how Morlu came into possession of it. He said Morlu is cooperating and that no charges have been announced.
“Let me reaffirm the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and the duty of the police is to provide protection and ensure safety for all citizens during demonstrations,” Coleman said. He earlier disclosed that authorities are also probing what he described as an illegal firearms distribution scheme linked to the July 17 protest.
Morlu’s lawyer, Atty. Cole, maintained his client acted lawfully by disarming an unidentified individual to avert what he called a “major catastrophe,” and said the weapon was handed over once conditions became safe.
“My client could not immediately surrender the weapon last night due to the volatile crowd situation,” Cole said, adding that Morlu is cooperating as a witness while investigators establish the circumstances of the weapon’s recovery.
The opposition CDC, in a statement, alleged that placing an armed individual inside the protest amounted to an attempt to intimidate or harm Morlu and other demonstrators.
“The arrest of the intended victim does not erase the crime; it exposes the assassination attempt,” CDC National Chairman Augustus Janga Kowo said. The party’s Youth League separately accused the Boakai administration of using state security to suppress political dissent.
The Unity Party rejected the claims. While reaffirming the constitutional right to peaceful protest, the ruling party questioned why the demonstration coincided with what it called significant progress in the investigation of the June 8 seizure of 237.6 kilograms of cocaine valued at US$19.2 million at Roberts International Airport. In a statement signed by National Assistant Secretary for Press, Publicity and Outreach Lansana P. Fofana, the party said Liberians are justified in asking one question: “Why now?”
That seizure prompted President Boakai to establish a Joint National Security Investigative Task Force comprising the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, Liberia National Police, National Security Agency, Executive Protection Service, Financial Intelligence Agency, Liberia Immigration Service, Customs authorities, Airport Security and the Ministry of Justice. The task force has identified several individuals as potential suspects, and criminal charges have been filed against some of them.
