Regular activities were suspended at David Barshell’s School, Thinker Village, when a group of armed police officers stormed the campus on last Thursday, January 14, 2021. The incident led to a pandemonium that forced students and teachers to escape in a nearby community for their lives.
The armed officers were said to be acting on the orders of one Amadu Bility, Deputy Zonal Director, Ministry of Public Works.
Bility and his group conducted a search and seizure operation, forcibly taking away several valuables, including the school’s generators and other properties.
The Zonal Deputy Director accused the school’s administration of erecting the school’s fence without permission from the ministry.
The Hot Pepper reporter, who visited the scene minutes after the action to authenticate the report, found the school to be empty, with broken pieces everywhere, and a huge banner with the inscription, “Stop Work”, hanging at the entrance of the school.
The Principal of the school, Harrison Ziatie, told the paper that the attackers caused trauma for students and others present, and described the scenario as dangerous. He said he did not receive any prior notice from the Zonal Director of the Public Works Ministry about the action.
He disclosed that the school is temporarily closed until the violent action is investigated and those involved dealt with, in accordance with the law.
Meanwhile, attempt by this paper to contact authorities at the Public Works Ministry for its side of the story proved futile, as it was told that the minister and his deputies were in a meeting.
At the same time, Police Spokesman, Moses Carter, said the Liberia National Police (LNP) has no knowledge of such brutal operation by its officers, as police is yet to receive official complaint from the administration of the school.
David Barshell School is owned and operated by Montserrado County’s district #3 Representative, Ceebee C.D. Barshell.
Representative Barshell is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Barshell University, Parker Paint Community, Paynesville, Monrovia.
The remarkable educator is known for transforming and molding the minds of less-fortunate students of the district, thereby buttressing government’s effort in promoting education.