The former Chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC), Dr. Richard V. Tolbert, has reflected on the April 12, 1980 coup, in which President William R. Tolbert Jr. was assassinated.
According to Dr. Tolbert, it has been 44 years since “this great evil was perpetrated not only against the Tolbert family but also against the destiny and people of Liberia”.
The Former NIC boss made the remarks Friday in Monrovia, which was April 12, 2024, which coincided with the second Friday in April, Fast and Prayer Day, observed as a national holiday.
“For those who have not yet come to recognize the great harm that was done, I can only say, I leave your own with God,” he lamented.
He noted, “As painful as the day was, and still is, to many of us—every minute is fresh in our memories, as if it was just yesterday.”
Dr. Tolbert pointed out that they bear no grudge in their hearts “against our enemies, past and present, but instead pray to the Almighty with all sincerity for the upliftment of his judgement, if there be any against the perpetrators of those wicked deeds and this nation.
“For surely, who cannot see except those who wish not to see that there has been a dark cloud. In fact on April 22, 1980 it was literally a very dark cloud over this land—since April 12, 1980 when President Tolbert was assassinated,” Dr. Tolbert maintained.
He explained that since April 22, 1980 when 13 government officials of President Tolbert ‘s cabinet were executed in cold blood on PHP’s South Beach, as well as since April 29, 1975 when the Finance Minister Steve Tolbert mysteriously died in a plane crash, and since sometime in 1980 when A. Benedict Tolbert and former Police Director Varney Dempster were taken out of their prison cell at night and murdered, their bodies never to be found, people have been pained over the years, and up to now.
He explained, “We beg God’s forgiveness for these and all our sins, and the sins of those who orchestrated those evil acts.
“May the soul of President Tolbert and all those killed with him during the coup of April 12, 1980, the 13 men killed on April 22, 1980; A.B. Tolbert and Varney Dempster as well as the hundreds of thousands who died in the subsequent years of our senseless uncivil wars find true repose and rest in perpetual peace and light,” Dr. Tolbert prayed.