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Liberian Ring Leaders Arrested |
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A Group of irate Liberian women last Saturday vent their anger on their Ghanaian counterparts in a bid to avenge the arrest of 107 refugees suspected of being ring leaders in last week’s orchestrated hunger strike. |
The ferocious attack, which took place in the early hours of last Saturday at the Budumburam Refugee Camp in the Central Region, was precipitated when armed police personnel stormed the camp to effect the arrest of the alleged ring leaders.
The protesting Liberian women threw stones at police cars and turned on the Ghanaian women in what could be described by many movie pundits as “Battle of Nerves”.
The enraged Liberian women, who outnumbered their Ghanaian counterparts, carried the day by the number of incursions they made into Ghanaian territories.
When hordes of policemen suddenly encircled the camp, the protesting Liberian women confronted them with the hope of resisting arrest but the heavily armed police personnel overpowered them with what could be termed by the police administration as reasonable minimum force.
The 107 alleged ring leaders were whisked away by the armed policemen for interrogation, whereupon sixteen of them were deported to Monrovia with the others awaiting other diplomatic clearance to ascertain their status.
Some of the refugees accused the Ghanaian Government of siphoning and obstructing them from accessing funds and other privileges due them, adding that the action amounted to cruelty on the part of their host country.
However, a delegation of Liberian Refugees outside the Budumburam Camp was expected to visit the irate women last Sunday to look at the possibility of resolving the nagging issue and calming tempers.
Meanwhile, Government of Ghana last Saturday released some arrested protestors who were initially carted away to the Kordiabe Camp in the Eastern Region, on humanitarian grounds as some of them were lactating mothers while the children of others had besieged the area.
An uneasy calm had returned to the camp last Sunday when DAILY GUIDE visited the area. Police personnel with water canon were visibly present to ensure order but some of the enraged women were seen hovering around the camp due to the intensity of the scorching sun.
Hordes of policemen stormed the refugee camp last Monday when a group of Liberian women embarked on a hunger strike to demand a thousand dollars each and repatriation to the United States.
Two weeks ago, the Interior Minister, Honorable Kwamena Bartels issued a strong warning to the demonstrating women to call off their strike as it contravened the Public Order Act , 491.
Some of the protesting refugees were also demanding a thousand dollars each to enable them to resettle in Liberia, with others putting forth special request to be assisted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to settle in the U.S.
In a related development, the Minister of the Interior has designated the Kordiabe Leadership Training Centre as a refugee centre.
The move presupposes that the Budumburam centre would eventually be emptied of its inmates for the new location.
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