The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL) has termed as reckless, pointless and diabolical recent threats spewed by Mark Jabateh against the life of Chief Justice, Francis Korkpor.
Mark Jabateh, dressed in military camouflage and surrounded by about a dozen persons, on social media recently accused Chief Justice Korkpor of being behind the demolition of properties belonging to people of the Mandingo ethnic group.
Jabateh, in a belligerent mood, threatened to kill Chief Justice Korkpor if, in his words, a single Mandingo person should die as a result of the current land dispute in Nimba County.
But the Civil Society Network of Liberia, in a statement issued Monday, April 26, 202 in Monrovia, described Jabateh as an ignorant and misguided nonentity who is seeking relevance at the expense of the impeccable character of Justice Korkpor.
The CSO group also termed Jabateh’s pointless rant as unwarranted and potentially inflammatory, in a society that is still striving to achieve genuine peace and reconciliation, as a way of healing the wounds of many years of civil unrest, and must therefore not be taken seriously by national security actors and functionaries.
The CSNL statement further clarified that, contrary to Jabateh’s willful falsehood, Chief Justice Korkpor, a peaceful and reconciliatory statesman, is not and has never been associated with violence, lest to talk of ordering, instructing or facilitating the destruction of lives and/or properties.
According to the civil society group, as further testament of the Chief Justice’s innocence and disapproval of the situation, the two court officers (a bailiff and a sheriff) who went to execute the controversial court order on the disputed land/properties have been brought to Monrovia and will be made to account for their actions for failing or refusing to honor instructions or directives given them not to proceed with the execution of the demolition order.
The Civil Society Network of Liberia has accordingly warned Jabateh to desist from drawing the Mandingo ethnic group and the Muslim community into his careless warlike outbursts.
Mandingoes and Muslims, according to the civil society group, are peaceful people or groups who are interested in the unity, peace, security and stability of Liberia.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Network of Liberia is calling on all peace-loving Liberians and foreign residents alike to condemn Mark Jabateh’s act of beating war drums because Liberia cannot afford to reverse the course of peace, unity and national development, following many years of bloodshed.
Ganta, the commercial city of Nimba, witnessed violent scenes early Tuesday morning over a disputed land after an oil depot, a warehouse and other businesses/ properties were set ablaze following a demolition exercise carried out on Monday, April 19, 2021 based on a court eviction order issued by the 8th Judicial Circuit Court in Sanniquellie.
The disputed land is between the Jabateh and Donzo families, on one hand, and Fred Suah (Johnson) on the other.