PHOTO: Children found alive
SOURCE: Liberian News Agency (LINA)
Eight missing children, who went to fetch firewood in the Bush in Camp Three Community Found Alive, after wo Days of Immense Searched by citizens in Barclayville, Grand Kru County.
Residents of Barclayville Camp Three Community have confirmed that the eight underage children who reportedly went missing in the nearby bush of Barclayville District have been found alive and unharmed a day after they went missing during their fetch for firewood for domestic usage in Grand Kru County.
Their disappearance since Monday November 15, 2021from Clark-ville Community of Barclayville Camp Three sparked up fear and concern among locals about their destination, but it has emerged that they had spent the night in the bush.
Narrating the situation in a separate remarks Tuesday after being found by some concerned citizens, they the eight children stated that after School hours at about 2:00 clock, their parents mandated them to go and fetch firewood in a nearby bush, but after cutting the wood while on their way back home, they never knew what led them to take another route within the same bush.
Jubilant community members after discovering the children
Those found alive are; Choise Jlaton, Romoe K. Gray, Olivia Wah, Josiah Jlaton, Patricia Jlaton, Charlse Mah, Koko Gray, and Cecelia Sickey.
According to them, they could not imagine themselves traveling back in the town with fire wood on their heads after they missed the road leading to the community, but were seen moving into deep forest at that even hours because they were out of their minds.
For a day they spent in the bush, according to them, they had not eaten anything but only survived by drinking water which sustained them for the night.
The eight teenagers in an audio are quoted as saying; that they began to develop little strength and started walking around and later found a road while coming out as they heard people sounding in the bush early Tuesday morning.
In an interview with the assistant zone chairman David Clark described the situation as regretful, when residents were informed about those eight underage Children missing in their community bush, something which prompted elders including youths of Barclayville to sound an alarm claiming everyone’s attention.
David Clarck told a team of journalists that family members in the area concealed the information until eleven midnights which claimed the attention of the community, looking at the number of persons who went missing.
The Assistant zonal Chairman said after he received the information of the missing children, he along with other local officials, elders, including the youths of Barclayville went to look into the matter.
Mr. Clark put the blame on the parents for being so careless and unlawful to send children below under 18 year of their age ranges fetching firewood from the bush alone.
David Clark used the occasion to caution parents who are always in the habit of sending underage children to fetch firewood from the bush alone to desist as they stand to be preparing for their future and their respective welfare need to be protected by both parents and the government.
The Assistant Zone Five Chairman urged parents to be a watchdog of their children by giving them maximum protection to serve as a good of bringing.
He is calling on the Justice Ministry through the government of Liberia and the Labor Ministry including the media to open a community dialogue for parents in order to enable them to know and see the importance of children in the County.
Meanwhile, Community dwellers who spoke to reporters on the scene said, during the searched of the missing teenagers, residents of Clarksville of Barclayville and other nearby towns suspended farming activities and other domestic affairs, while spending a day and at least one night patrolling the bushes in search of the eight manners.
They expressed frustration on how those children were treated by seeing them alone in the nearby bush to fetch firewood at about six hours’ distance to find them.
Community dwellers further said that they were worried at the time the information reached them most especially given the number of children that were in question but thanked God for protecting them from harm.