PHOTO: Assistant County Police Commissioner, Colonel Fredrick Nepay
By Emmanuel Mafelah, mafelahemmanuel29@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- As criminal activities continues to increase in the central Bong County, authorities have constituted a technical committee to formulate strategies to minimize crime in the county.
The committee was set up on July 1, 2020 by stakeholders of the county, including Assistant County Police Commissioner, Colonel Fredrick Nepay.
Speaking with reporters following the formation of the committee, Colonel Fredrick Nepay said that the committee has seven-members and is headed by the Gbarnga City Corporation, including representatives of the Liberia National Police, Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, Civil Society Organizations and the Independent National Commission on Human Rights.
He said that the committee has a mandate to design strategies to rehabilitate and reintegrate wayward youths, commonly referred to as “zogos”.
It is also required to develop a short, medium and long-term plan to reduce the increasing crime rate in the county.
When developed, the strategies could serve as roadmap for other counties in rehabilitating and reintegrating drug addicts and wayward youths across the country.
“The meeting was prompted by the continuous terrorizing of peaceful residents of Gbarnga and surrounding areas by ‘zogos’ dwelling in the Methodist Compound area,” said Dr. James Lavala, Dean of Students at the United Methodist School.
Also speaking to journalists following the meeting, Mr. Alex Z. Mulbah, Administrative Assistant to Gbarmga City Mayor, who is chair of the technical committee, pledged its commitment to meeting the expectations of the county.
According to Mr. Mulbah, dealing with less fortunate Liberians is a social and national issue that needs to be treated by stakeholders with care.
Two weeks before last Wednesday’s meeting, which was held at the Methodist Compound in Gbarnga, unknown criminals believed to be drug addicts stabbed two motorcyclists in Senyea and Bassa communities in Suakoko, and Gbarnga, and made away with their motorbikes.
The incidents prompted Bong County residents to engage the Methodist Administration, calling on the church to remove the thick bush around its compound, which is currently being used as a criminal hideout.