Monrovia – Two Liberian journalists were attacked on last week while performing their reportorial duties in Duala on Bushrod Island. Edwin Genoway of FrontPage Africa and Alfred Kollie of SPOON Network were assaulted by female police officer Angie Moore.
According to Genoway, Officer Moore became enraged when she saw the journalists recording her as she confiscated goods from children selling in the Duala market area. Genoway explained that Officer Moore was spotted taking money from the children, seizing their goods, and sending them away in tears.
“In our presence, she took L$370 from a 13-year-old selling clothes. We also saw her collecting L$530 from another child and L$300 from a third. She seized all their goods, loaded them into a Kekeh, and took them to the New Kru Town Zone Depot,” Genoway recounted.
Many of the market sellers celebrated when they saw Officer Moore apologizing to the journalists. Several residents around the police depot reported that their goods had been seized by Moore. Marie James explained that she had to pay US$10 to retrieve goods taken from her daughter.
“We hardly make money, and every day, this woman and her crew seize our goods and take money from us. We’re tired of this. We spend our money to buy our goods, and she takes them away, claiming we’re using our children to sell,” said James.
FrontPage Africa discovered that Officer Moore allegedly takes home most of the goods confiscated from children who cannot be traced. “If you see her going home with huge plastic bags filled with our market items, you’d think she just shopped at a supermarket. This is her everyday thing,” another victim explained.
Following the journalists’ investigation into Moore’s actions, she was approached for an explanation. When confronted, Officer Moore became angry, stated that she was not answerable to the media, and warned the journalists to stop recording her. Her refusal to cooperate led to a physical attack on the journalists.
Police Deputy Inspector General for Operations Nelson Freeman was contacted to intervene when the journalists arrived at Zone One Depot in New Kru Town.
