-Following court eviction in Catholic Community
By Jerromie S. Walters
The euphoria in Catholic Community, Congo Town on a somber Saturday morning of March 30, 2024, brought back memories of Liberia’s 14 years civil unrest, where many had sought refuge in neighboring countries. People with bundles tied on their heads, some in wheelbarrows, while other on bikes, were forced to vacate their homes, leaving behind all they had built over the years. Lost, with no next direction, many lamented the agony of being made homeless in a few seconds, after striving for years to have a home.
Children joined their parents in tears, as they grieved the distress of now seeking aid for at least a single room for shelter for a while, when they recalled that their parents were just house owners. Parents could manage to hold back their tears from the onset, but not when the court sheriffs made it vivid that it was time for them to become refugees at home. With a total disregard for all of these, Stanton Gaye, the architect of the eviction said the law must be respected.
Court document shows that the property in question spans 13.704 acres of land, with over 50 households affected by the eviction. With residents from this amount of land being evicted, a lot of the victims believe the matter was inappropriately handled. “There were no notice.” It is believed that over 50 homes are affected by this eviction.
Victims opened up
A female victim, who only identified as Joyce while in tears, said she got the disputed land in 2008 when it was a swamp land which she and her husband eventually dried up to make it a residential place. “We filled in the swamp land because we were told that citizens can’t own swamp land so we paid squatters right for it,” she narrated. Like several other persons, she explained that they were never invited to the court before such action was taken as they are willing to rebuy the land due to their huge investment in the site.
Mary Mulbah, an elder woman didn’t just lose her home to the eviction, but also her last cash. Ma Mary said due to the magnitude of the tear-gas fired by the police, she escorted her grandchildren from the neighborhood. Upon her return, she met her door open while her belongings were placed outdoor. Our report confirmed that at the time he appeared at Ma Mary’s home, there was nothing like a door seen at the main entrance of the house.
“I carried the children because the tear-gas was too much, just to come back I saw the door burst and I couldn’t also find my money. They moved the door. How do they expect me to leave?” she lamented in distress.
A resident, who’s also a victim, said he has squatter rights to the place. According to him, he acquired the right from the City Government in 1998. “We have a paper from the Congo Town City government. There has not been any prior notice. Right now we have someone at the hospital who went off from the teargas.”
What baffles him the most is that he has lived in the community for over two decades and he never saw anyone that claimed the property till lately. Besides, he said from the genesis, it was a swampy land so they were convinced that they would have been alerted before action of such. “This community is big. It was a swamp, I can say river, we developed this place. Since 1995 we have come here and we acquired this place in 1998.
A young female resident and victim of the incident explained: “I have been a resident of this place since I was 7 years old, now I’m 37 years old. We acquired this place through a squatter right from the City Government. In November, we heard that there was a court ruling when three people were sued in the community that this man claimed its his property (His land). Since the court ruled, the court ruled against the entire community. How can you sue three persons from the community on ownership of the land and at the end of the day the entire community is included?” she questioned.
She continued, “Since then, there has been no intervention, nobody came to say anything. This morning we were surprised to see people’s properties being thrown. Even if this man owns the place, there should be notice served to community residents for them to move ahead of time instead of coming with few sheriffs and route police firing teargas at people. Teargas was fired at me. My little cousin was affected. She’s in the hospital right now as I speak. She fell off because the tear gas was fired directly through the window in our house.
What does the ruling say?
In a writ of possession issued by the court, which is in this paper’s possession, the court mandated the eviction of Mr/Mrs. Darkpah Johnson, Mrs Margaret Wreh, and Mr. Henry Wreh of Oldest Congo Town, Liberia, are Defendants in the land that was in dispute for years. The writ states: “You are further commanded to oust, evict, and inject the above-named defendants or respondents from the subject property/properties in keeping with the law.”
Court document shows that September 23, 2022, ruling on the land dispute went in Joseph V. Gaye, by and through its administrators Staton V. Gaye, Victoria V. Gaye, George Giah, and Sammie Peter Paul favor, against the three persons (Mr/Mrs. Darkpah Johnson, Mrs Margaret Wreh and Mr. Henry Wreh of Oldest Congo Town, Liberia) and not the entire community. This is what most of the victims are concerned about. Unfortunately, their doubts weren’t addressed.
Standing against the eviction
Earlier, some residents of the community, mainly youths burned tires on the main road and held rocks, bottles, and sticks, setting up roadblocks in an attempt to prevent the execution of the court order. As stones were thrown from the angry residents, route police reacted with tear gas. The hour-long protest also saw the closure of businesses, the blocking of the Catholic Hospital main entrance as well as fear amongst neighboring Sophie Community residents characterized the land dispute saga.
Ushered by the court Sherif, residents’ belongings were thrown outside followed by the demolition of their structures valued at hundreds of thousands of United States dollars. Some residents were arrested by the police in connection to the rioting especially the stoning of the riot police who came to execute the court mandate, however, some of those arrested by the police claimed that they were innocent as the arrests by the police were allegedly carried out randomly.
