Liberian Coast Guards invade, beat up, and loot fishing crew
Latest report reaching this press has stated that on Friday, July 23rd 2014, six well armed Liberians Coast Guards from the Republic of Liberia entered in to Sierra Leone territorial waters where they attacked and looted an industrial fishing boat called THETIS belonging to the Peninsular Fishing Company.
This has been confirmed by Lieutenant (N) D.F Koroma of the Sierra Leone Navy who was dispatched together with five other RSLAF personnel to the scene following a distress call from the owner of the attacked vessel, Mr. Badara.
According to D.F Koroma, by the time they arrived at the scene, the Liberian Coast Guards (LCGs) had mercilessly beaten the Captain of the vessel, Jang Kitchan and other crew members on the grounds that they were fishing in the Liberia territorial waters. He said they met the two LCG boats alongside THETIS whose beaten crew members complained that the LCGs had taken away from them their communication gadgets, and stolen from them the sum of five million eight hundred and sixty three thousand Leones, twenty million and twenty Guinea Francs, a digital camera, a DVD laptop, a mobile phone and several other valuable items.
Lieutenant Koroma said the Leader of the LCGs was Lieutenant Commodore Agbo who insisted that they were in Liberia waters even when he (D.F) Koroma, after checking the Global Positioning System, GPS, told Agbo that they had attacked the vessel in Sierra Leone waters and that their decision to take it to Liberia was wrong.
D.F Koroma furthered that he made it categorically clear to Lieutenant Commodore Agbo that he had no right to invade the territorial waters of Sierra Leone, attack a fishing vessel, beat up its crew and loot it.
The matter has now been reported the the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which is investigating why Lt Commodore and his team had the audacity to intrude into our waters and wreck such havoc.
When contacted, the Managing Director of the boat, Mr. Badara, recalled that this is not the first time for Liberia Coast Guards to attack and loot their boats.
“ I was shocked and devastated when Captain Jang Kitchan called and informed me that some LCG Officers had wanted to take away the boat to Liberia with fake allegation that the boat was fishing in Liberian waters,” Badara remarked.
He expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the RSLAF Navy for retrieving the boat.
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
© 2014, https:. All rights reserved.
