ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2023 when news broke that the Liberia National Police (LNP) in collaboration with Joint Security agents busted a cache of Arms and Ammunition reportedly shipped to Liberia through the Freeport of Monrovia, and later on, an additional discovery was made at a house in Brewerville in lower Montserrado County, the news was greeted with fear by Liberians and foreign nationals alike judging from the country’s bitter 14-year civil war that took the lives of over 250,000 people according to estimates.

FOLLOWING THE BREAKING news as was reported by the authoritative Independent Probe Newspaper, social media went wild as Liberians started to express fear, especially when it was not swiftly announced by the police as to who was behind the shipment. There are speculations and mixed reactions in public circles, as some Liberians opined that the illegal and clandestine shipment of the arms and ammunition may have been for commercial purposes, while others feared the worst judging from the country’s past history of violence.

THE AUTHORITATIVE INDEPENDENT Probe Newspaper (IPNEWS)  broke news on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, that Liberian security forces had seized a cache of arms at the Freeport of Monrovia, that was reportedly designated for a client on the Old Road in Sinkor, after which the Liberia National Police (LNP) displayed to journalists and media workers at its headquarters on Capitol Hill some of the arms and ammunition seized in Monrovia.

IPNEWS MANAGED AND obtained photos of at least ten document-preserved boxes loaded with the rifles. Some of the rifles discovered according to security sources are mounted with long-range lance glasses to include M203 launcher gadgets, American-made M16, and AK47, among others.

INSPECTOR GENERAL OF the Liberia National Police, Colonel Patrick Sudue told journalists on last Thursday evening, January 5, 2023, that following the confiscation of arms and ammunition at the Freeport of Monrovia based on intelligence, the Police was able to make some arrests, which led to the discovery of additional arms and ammunition at a house in Brewerville, outside Monrovia.

ACCORDING TO SECURITY sources, the arms and ammunition were uncovered in Brewerville following the issuance of a Search and Seizure Warrant in connection with a classified leak from an unidentified man claiming to be a Liberian boyfriend of the consignee (name withheld), to security officers.

THE REPORT ON the seizure of heavy consignment of arms and ammunition placed security on high alert. In the capital city Monrovia, there were a heavy security presence at major intersections and a rigorous search of vehicles overnight.

WHEN THE INSPECTOR General of the Liberia National Police, Patrick Sudue, told a news conference that the joint security would tear apart the container that contained the arms and ammunition the next day following the discovery and seizure of the weapons, there has been no further report from the Police on the status of their search.

AS LIBERIANS AWAIT anxiously on the outcome of the search of the arms container, the seizure of the cache of arms and ammunition have revealed that most Liberians want the Government of Liberia through the Joint Security to be open and transparent in the conduct of the investigation, recalling the ugly past of the Samuel Doe regime, where opposition politicians and other prominent Liberians were implicated in state crimes

THE ISSUE OF the former Executive Mansion Guard Battalion officer, Col. Moses M.M.D. Flazamington was coerced to lie on perceived enemies of the Samuel Doe regime that they were part of the plot to overthrow his regime with the famous ‘50 Caliber’ shootout incident. When Flazamington could not remember his script on live television, and decided to look on a piece of paper, he was whisked off and ordered executive by President Doe, since indeed he had exposed their plot to implicate innocent opposition politicians.

AT THE SAME time, some Liberians have called on the LNP and Joint Security to brief the media periodically, in order to avoid public speculations, as that won’t be good for the image of the government of Liberia.

WE AT IPNEWS join the many calls by urging the Government of Liberia through the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the Joint Security to deal with the investigation free of biases and the notion of perceived enemies of the Government, but rather thoroughly dig deeper to find the culprits associated with the arms saga.