Liberia: In Alleged Vehicle Attack On Former VP Taylor, EPs Denies Incident, Says No Evidence of Attack
2 min readMonrovia — The Executive Protection Agency (EPS) has said it has no evidence to prove that former Vice President Jewel Taylor was attacked by an unknown assailant in the Duport Road area.
Over the weekend, Howard-Taylor alarmed that while traveling through the Duport Road community, her vehicle was subjected to a targeted attack, resulting in the destruction of her car’s rear windshield.
“This assault marks escalation in the challenges facing former Vice President Howard-Taylor, who has repeatedly expressed concerns about her security to the current administration. Despite her numerous requests for enhanced protection from the Executive Protection Service, her appeals have remained largely unaddressed. This incident is not only a direct threat to her personal safety but also a disturbing indication of the broader security challenges ordinary citizens in Liberia face daily,” a statement said.
However, the EPS, in a statement Tuesday said there wasn’t any attack on the two-car convoy of the former vice president as was being claimed by her office over the weekend.
EPS Spokesman, Philip Moore, said the preliminary investigation conducted by the Service failed to substantiate the claim of the targeted attack as was reported in the media.
Mr. Moore said Howard-Taylor was riding in a two-vehicle convoy when a sound came from one of the vehicle’s back windshields causing minor damage. He said no vehicle crashed into the former VP’s convoy as is being insinuated in the media.
He said the area was immediately searched and pedestrians and other people in the neighborhood said they did not see anyone throwing projectiles at the former VP’s vehicle.
Still, there was a strong possibility that small gravel from under the tire of another moving vehicle in the opposite lane may have hit the rear windshield of the former VP’s vehicle, Mr. Moore said.
Mr. Moore added this hypothesis is inconclusive, but there is no evidence that the former vice president was being attacked.
The EPS media officer said the EPS, which has the statutory mandate to protect the President and other VIPs, is interested in knowing the facts from a security point of view, but the Service was mindful about the political spin that politicians usually entertain when such incidents occur.
He said the former vice president is currently protected by almost half a dozen well-trained EPS agents and two police officers.
By FrontPageAfrica.