By Bill W. Cooper
Montserrado County Senator, Abraham Darius Dillon has described as “NONSENSE” his colleagues’ decision to revert to Executive session to discuss issues surrounding the recent attack on the home of former Chief Justice, Gloria Musu-Scott.
Sen. Dillon, in an angry mood further termed as unfortunate and disheartening to have witnessed his colleagues trying to protect the joint security actors who were invited to provide update about the country’s security affairs.
The Senator was speaking on February 7, 2023, when he walked out of session following Senators who voted to have the discussion surrounding the ongoing investigation concerning the attack on former Chief Justice Scott’s home be discussed in executive session while other matters be done in open session.
But in reaction to his colleagues’ decisions, the Montserrado County Senator rhetorically asked, “What the hell is Executive here or about what, and what is the secret about the former Chief Justice’s issues that we are hiding?
“So, discussing an attack on the former Chief Justice, mysterious deaths all around the country are now national security issues, yet, you were the same police on ELBC talking about this very same case and at that part, it was never a national security issue; I am not part of this nonsense,” he said.
According to him, discussing and getting informed about the status about the ongoing case has nothing to do with National Security, on grounds that the police is already giving updates on the case on various radio stations as well as the issuance of press releases.
He added, “What are classified about this issues as my colleagues are saying? This same police came here and lied under oath and no action was taken against them. Today, they have appeared once again being protected, so I cannot sit and waste my time by going to any Executive Session.”
“So, I just see this action by my colleagues as a complete nonsense because there is no secret about this case anymore especially so the police are all over the place issuing and giving all kinds of contradictory statements,” Sen. Dillon asserted.
Meanwhile, in response to Sen. Dillon, one of his colleagues who spoke to this paper off record argued that their decision was in no way wrong and that their action was legislative and has some constitutional backing when it comes to the security of the state.
According to him, although it is the right of Sen. Dillon to have walked out of session based on personal reasons or mixed-feeling, his classification of the entire body’s decision is ‘unfair and unprofessional’ as a lawmaker.
The Senator maintained that the issues of having Executive Session has been and is a normal phenomenal in the legislature especially so if the issues albeit has some threat or borders on the National Security of the country.
He added, “I am not against Dillon’s decision to walk out of session because it is his right to do so and it is something including myself can do especially when I am not satisfied with certain issues being discussed or if I feel that it is not in my people’s interest.”
“But I believe that his statement and classification of his fellow Senators is unacceptable and that he should as well muster the courage to do the needful by retracting that statement because he is not more educated or love this country more than his colleagues,” he noted.
It can be recalled that the joint security which includes the Ministry of Justice, the Liberia National Police (LNP), Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), Liberia National Fire Service (LNFS) and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) were invited by the Senate to give updates on the security status in the country.
Key amongst those updates was the recent attack on the home of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu-Scott which led to the death of her daughter Charloe Musu; the illegal carrying of fire arms by the Monrovia City Police and the amount of police officers being deployed at various concession sites among others.
