Liberia National Police -v- Liberia Seaport Police - Update

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has placed on three-month probation the Police Inspector General, Madam Beatrice Munah Sieh, in relation with the 9 July violent clash between the National Police and the Seaport Police at the Freeport of Monrovia, the African Press Agency learnt Friday from reliable source. President Sirleaf thus overturned the Boima Fahnbulleh Committee recommendation, set up to investigate the matter, to dismiss the police inspector general for "professional misconduct" during the July 9 violence. According to the ruling, the police boss would undergo one month leadership training at a school abroad. Last 9 July, the Seaport Police and the Liberia National Police clashed at the Freeport of Monrovia, as Seaport Police officers put up stiff resistance to stop the arrest of two colleagues accused of involvement in fuel theft at the port. Stones, machetes and cutlasses were used as the national police retaliated, resulting in several persons, including passers-by and bystanders, sustaining injuries. The Fahnbulleh committee said the police inspector general bore the greatest responsibility for the fracas at the Freeport which left an estimated 50 persons injured. In her six-count decision following the thorough study of the Fahnbulleh report, the Liberian leader directed that the Port Authority and the police to investigate the level of injury sustained and property damaged during the incident for "an appropriate level of compensation". The President however endorsed the recommendation by the Fahnbulleh investigative panel to suspend the assistant director of the Seaport Police, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Zoegar for one month without pay for 'dereliction of duty'. The Liberian leader warned secondary security agencies that the Liberia national Police remain the supreme law enforcer in the country. African Press Agency