A female resident of Gardnersville has taken the complaint of the township commissioner, Dio Himmie Elliott, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for alleged harassment, intimation and abuse of power. Fatu Service said Commissioner Elliott is in the constant habit of insulting her in public and issuing terroristic threat against her.
The complainant recalled that, in recent time, the commissioner ordered a Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) officer to arrest and detain her in a cell holding hardened male criminals and drug traffickers, as though she had committed said crime.
She alleged that while she was being taken to jail, the Gardnersville commissioner followed her, saying, “Even Joseph Boakai, the President of Liberia, will not be able to release you.”
Service alleged further that she was made to stand for several hours as there was not enough space in the crowed cell to accommodate her and other inmates.
Sharing her ordeal and hash treatment behind bars with this paper in tears, the complainant alleged that she remained in the standing position in the cell, despite appeals by bystanders and well-wishers that she be released.
She explained that the clear intent of the arrest was to bring her to public ridicule and make it to appear as though she is a drug trafficker—only because the commissioner wants to illegally take possession of her husband’s properties.
Service alleged that Dio Himmie Elliott is known for using his position as commissioner of the township to dislocate residents from their land and sell it to others—only to satisfy his thirst for money and wealth.
She claimed that those who try to resist him are publicly molested, harassed and detained on false charges, such as possessing drugs and other banned substances.
Fatu Service claimed that she was detained in a male cell in order to expose her to sexual harassment from the inmates and link her to drug trafficking.
The complainant, in her complaint, called on women around the country to rise up against the abuse of women’s right by condemning the attack on her freedom.
When contacted, Commissioner Elliott admitted ordering the arrest but underscored that the action had no ulterior motive rather than to discipline her for showing disrespect to authority.
He explained that the complainant, in a clear attempt to molest him in front of his family, arrived at his residence one morning unannounced and began raining insult on him for allegedly taking possession of a piece of land belonging to her husband Koko Service.
