War Time Memory Resurfaced as Liberians Celebrated Their Nation’s 175th Years of Independence

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As Liberians celebrated their nation’s 175^th year of independence yesterday, there were a series of trending activities across the country, ranging from amazing cultural photos posted by Liberians to the Independence Day program held by the state.

Among the many activities that occurred yesterday was an incident involving one, Christopher Walter Sisulu Sivili, a member of the Student Unification Party (SUP) that went to protest under the banner “Fix the country.”

In the middle part of July, the Student Unification Party – a campus-based student group of the University of Liberia – announced a protest slated for July 26 – the nation’s Independence Day. The rally intended to send a strong message to President George M. Weah that his government needed to put robust mechanisms in place for alleviating the hardships of ordinary Liberians.

Yesterday July 26, 2022, the SUP students took the street as planned. Everything was going fine until another group called the “CDC-Council of Patriots” headed by Ben Believe Togbah began to counter parade under the banner “President Weah is fixing the country.”

Two Groups, Opposing Banner

Imagine two groups of people parading the streets with two opposing agendas on the same day. In a widespread internet video linked below, Christopher, a member of the Student Unification Party, was madly handled by members of CDC-COP.

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This moment has since triggered a long-time memory of the over fourteen years of civil war that saw former president Samuel K. Doe maltreated by former warlord Prince Y. Johnson. In the circulated video, Christopher was seen beaten and script butt-naked by the CDC-COP members.

How Has the Public Reacted?

In the last few hours since the incident occurred, the public has frowned at the perpetrators and called on the national government to take action against them as the activities carried out yesterday has the propensity to derail the high earn peace of the country.

Satta F. Sheriff, a child rights advocate, was seen on a Facebook live shielding tears upon watching the violent video on Facebook. Here was what she wrote afterward: “For me, what’s really sad about today’s incident is how heavily every violent action seen on video was perpetrated by young people. Young people who claim to be fighting for Liberia, young people who claim to be “trying to maintain the peace or fix the system.” Young people who have allowed the interests and the agendas of politicians to poison their minds against their fellow young people. As young people, we should be working together, not fighting, and organizing events to show off our power and ability to gather more people than the other group. Or even publicly abusing, insulting, and removing another young man’s pants because we believe “he betrayed the struggle or took the streets to protest for the wrong reasons.” As young people, we should be showing the difference right now by standing together, especially when politicians daily are lying, stealing, and corrupting Liberia’s future instead of seeking to protect it.”

She further explained: “What happened in that video today is sad, horrible, violent, and troubling. I hope we learn from it. If you don’t see a clear link between today’s incident and our past, you need to take some time to understand Liberia’s past and why we even went to war. If you are not hurt and angry about today’s incident, it is fair to write that you don’t care about Liberia anymore. Many things about today were wrong, and I think we did not see everything on camera, we only saw a bit of how we have been openly encouraging lawlessness, anger, and bitterness among young people in the name of politics, activism, or militancy.”

Varney A. Teah, who goes by the nickname Strong Gbanna Pekin, is a Liberian social media influencer who resides in Canada. Strong Gbanna Pekin has used his page to speak against the inhumane actions that the CDC-COP melted against Chris today. He was one of the first people that post the video on the internet.

Varney posted some things: “They may have satisfied their thuggish nature by brutalizing you and demeaning your self-esteem. You may be powerless to react right now. No action may be taken against the perpetrators, and they may think they have won. ” He also continued:

“But one thing I want you to always remember, son is: Power is temporary, and consequences as a result of abuse of power always catch up with the actors. Live through this, and one day, just one day, the tide will turn… CC: President George Weah, his government and the CDC”

Many civil grouping organizations and social media users have condemned the violent treatment instigated against Christopher yesterday. Members of the opposition community have also condemned the violent action and called on the government to investigate the matter speedily. Below are some of the screenshots.

What has the government said?

Over 15 hours since the video surfaced on the internet, the Government of Liberia, through the Liberia National Police and the Ministry of Information, Cultural and Tourism, has not uttered a word on this incident.

The government’s silence has furthered spark speculation that “nothing will come out of this matter”, and it could just add to the many bad situations that have happened in the country where the doer goes with impunity.

However, we are using our platform to add to the many voices that the government should see reasons to investigate this matter adequately. The fear of the dark days is being discussed everywhere, and we can’t afford to carry our Life behind any longer.