By Edwin M. Fayia, III, edwinfayia@gmail.com
From all indications in Liberia, the Corona Virus Disease (COVID19) health restrictions in the use of a nose mask and its enforcement by security agencies have shifted to commercial drivers and private vehicle operators at the various checkpoints.
At some the major checkpoints in Monrovia and the highways in Liberia, security personnel of all categories have designed a strategy aimed at arresting commercial drivers and private car owners for not urging commuters to use the nose masks.
When such arrests are made, some commercial drivers and private vehicle owners claim that security agents demand LD$500.00 before the vehicle is released to continue its journey to wherever parts of the country.
However, such alleged acts on the part of law enforcement personnel have begun to generate grave concerns amongst the commercial drivers and private car owners in the country.
A Police officer in Monrovia directing traffic without nosemask
They are urging all heads of security agencies to institute urgent and swift steps that will halt such broad day extortion, harassment and intimidation of commercial drivers, private car owners and truck drivers that continue to convey critically needed food items to Monrovia and other parts of the country.
Such acts are specifically being carried out on the Lofa, Nimba, Bong and Bomi, Robertsport, Margibi as well as Grand Bassa highways in the country.
The victims of this well-orchestrated extortion designs have described such acts on the part of the security personnel as totally unacceptable and counterproductive as far as the fight against COVID-19 pandemic is concerned in Liberia.
They also explained that several complaints have been forwarded to the appropriate heads of those security agencies in the country for urgent steps that will bring relief to them.
In separate interviews with the affected commercial, truck drivers and private car owners early this week in Paynesville and Monrovia, they also claimed that they are now direct paymasters of security agents on many parts of Liberia highways.
Truck driver Ericson B. Roberts, 45, who regularly plies the Lofa highway pointed out that extortion, harassment and intimidation have become a complete menace and nightmare.
“In my candid view, I think we should stop complaining and live with such acts at our exploitative and greedy minded security checkpoints agents on our highways in our corrupt prone country,” Driver Roberts pleaded.
Commercial taxi driver Victor Davidson, 40, a resident of Gbarnga City in Bong County noted that the highway harassment and extortion are part and parcel of the way the Liberian Government has allegedly designed to pay security agents deployed on highway checkpoints in the country.
“Iam on many occasions constrained to pay money to security agents for a passenger that could not wear the nose mask on our Gbarnga highway checkpoints,” Driver Davidson claimed.
He also said this act of transfer aggression on the part of security agents is indeed unacceptable and counterproductive in every form, shape and manner.