Over 200 households in the Catholic Community were, left vacant after inhabitants were evicted from their homes in a dramatic showdown with officers of the Liberia National Police and Sheriff of the Supreme Court of Liberia over the weekend.
The eviction took place in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 30, 2024, pending demolition due to a Court Eviction Order, a situation which later sparked anger and chaos among the residents who refused to leave their homes.
Catholic Community, where the famous St. Jospeh’s Catholic Hospital is situated, has been a peaceful and closely-knit neighborhood for many years, but tensions began to rise when the residents received eviction notices from the court, citing lack of proper documents for their homes.
According to our reporter who visited the scene, many of the residents who have lived in the community for generations, were shocked and outraged by the sudden eviction orders, claiming that they had never been informed of any issue with their homes and never had anywhere else to stay.
According to our reporter, the tensions boiled over and chaos later broke out between the forces of the LNP and evicted residents, as Police fired series of tear-gas in the air and arrested several to disperse the angry residents.
One of the residents spoken to, stated that there has been no proper court process regarding the land dispute, and one man is making claim to the entire property, and wondered, “This is our life that is being taken away, and where do we go from here?”
The residents also barricaded themselves inside their homes, refusing to leave despite the police’s orders, while some residents even threw rocks and other objects at the police, leading to a tense standoff between the two sides.
The situation escalated as more police officers arrived on the scene, attempting to forcibly remove the residents from their homes, though the residents stood their ground, determined to fight for their right to stay in their homes.
The agitated residents further argued that they had nowhere else to go and that the authorities were unfairly targeting them, while the police and court sheriff on the other hand, insisted that they were simply following orders and enforcing the law.
Meanwhile, after hours of the tension, the residents were later removed from their various homes, leaving a sense of sadness, with many of them seen in tears, calling on philanthropists to come to their aid.
