Citizens of Foya District, Lofa County have alarmed over the issue of rampant ritualistic killings in the area of recent.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Press Union of Liberia as part of its 57th anniversary celebration in Foya, Josiah Saahkeh, Program Director at Radio Tamba Tayior in Foya revealed that in recent months innocent people have been killed without any trace of the perpetrators.
Saahkeh mentioned that when citizens are killed and complaints taken to the 10th Judicial Circuit Court in the County, nothing good can come out of the matter, something he termed as frustrating.
He explained, “A citizen was brutally killed between Kolochoe, lower Vahun and Farsama Districts recently and the case was taken to Voinjama, but the perpetrator was set free.”
Saahkeh is calling on government to empower the security sector in the district on grounds that citizens are not safe.
Similarly, a youth advocate of Foya District, Moses S. Thitoe called on the leadership of Lofa County through the Government of Liberia to do something urgently about the situation.
According to him, citizens are living in fear and as such there is a need to ensure a safe space for all.
Thiteo explained that the security system in the county is very weak noting that the security sector needs to be strengthened.
“Until the sector can be strengthened, the citizens must be involved and if they are not involve it become a problem”, Thiteo added.
He further said that citizens of the county are crying because they are not fully represented at the House of Senate.
At the same time, Thitoe is also calling on government and the county leadership to construct a youth centre in the county.
Speaking at a debate on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, Thiteo believes if the youth Centre is build, it will empower young people in the county.
“This is the time for the leadership of the county and the Government of Liberia to empower the ability of youthful people in Lofa,” he noted.
Thitoe revealed that the county is divided due to the disability of young people which has caused them to be riding motorcycles for their sustenance.
According to the youth advocate, the youth Centre is where young people will go to interact, show intellectual ability and to learn more about the county.
For his part, the President for the student counsel Government of the Free Pentecostal Community College, J. Aaron Dorbor said students are struggling to pay school fees due to lack of employment opportunities..
Dorbor maintained that most students in the county have been put out of school for not paying their fees on time. He explained that politics is also killing the school system in the county; adding that lawmakers appoint people who are not qualified to run the school base on political interests.
“Those who are qualified should be the ones that will serve in the position and remove those who are not qualified,” Dorbo intimated.
Dorbor blamed the leadership of Lofa County for the hardship in the educational system in the county; saying that they do not have any school equipment from the government.
He narrated that his leadership will not accept any lawmaker(s) on the campus until they start to support the college.