Police Arrests & Charge Six Persons in Connection With UL Campus Violence
By: Jeremiah Sackie Cooper Gmail:jeremiahcooper105@gmail.com
Capitol Hill, Monrovia: March 13, 2023: Barely few hours after the bloody violence on University of Liberia Capitol Hill, Campus, the Liberia National Police arrested six (6) persons in connection to the incident.
Violence ensued on Monday, March 13, 2023, between supporters of Montserrado County 8 Representative Moses Acarous Gray and members of the Students Unification Party (SUP) following a resistance from SUP to allow the Lawmaker hold a lunch with constituents on campus. SUP had earlier warned the Lawmaker to cancel his planned lunch visit based on their unbending quest to ensure the UL premises do not host corrupt leaders.
Speaking via a local TV station, Police Spokesman Moses Carter noted that those arrested are charged with rioting, creating violence among others. Carter furthered that the Police will leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators of Monday violence to book. “The Liberia National Police has arrested six person for the violence at UL today and more arrests will be made” he said.
Police Spokesman confirmed that the visitation of both lawmakers (Rep. Gray and Rep. Yekeh Y. Kolubah) at UL intensified the violence among students, something he said, led to several students sustaining injuries. “Things became to go out of hand when both Yekeh and Acraous Gray got on the campuses of the University of Liberia”.
Carter at the same time lauded officers assigned at the University of Liberia for restoring clam, though he reported that one of the LNP vehicles was damaged by the Monday’s violence.
Members of SUP believe Rep. Gray hired thugs (disadvantaged youths) to evade their campus and injure them.
Meanwhile, Rep. Gray has indicated that his visit to the UL was not a show of strength between him and the SUP but to register that there can be no state within a state. He pointed out that UL is a space to breed technocrats and leaders; stressing that the current posture of SUP is worrisome for democracy. “You are not my target, you are my brothers and sisters, my sons and daughters and some of you are my constituents, let’s ensure that peace rain on this campus. Today we want to say thanks to all who walked with us into history in a calm and peaceful manner. There will be no state within a state as all will move across our district peacefully”, Rep. Gray noted during his lunch rally on the UL campus.
The bloody Monday scene at the UL injured scores of students and damaged properties within the fence and outside.
Analysts believe the provocation from the Montserrado District 8 Lawmaker Gray to lead a group of youngsters to the UL campus while SUP had a planned citizen rally to resist corrupt officials exacerbated the conflict and resulted into more injuries.
The tension on campus forced the School’s administration to call off classes in order to ensure the safety of others. The violence erupted when scores of Students of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law and undergrad were taking their semester exams.
