By D Abraham Cooper with the Liberia Forest Media Watch
In Grand Gedeh County, an anti-deforestation campaigner, Sampson Zamie is fearing attempt to silence him for standing against forest illegalities involving over 9,000 foreign nationals believe to be Bourkinabes.
Sampson Zaime is the head of the Community Forest Management Body (CFMB). CFMB is a body that manages the day-to-day affairs of the community forest in Gboe administrative district, Grand Gedeh. Community forest is designed for community members to have control over their forest and its resources and make determination about their developmental needs.
Sampson is afraid that if care is not taking, the foreign nationals, mainly Bourkinabess from Ivory Coast could encroach on their community forest and engage in widespread deforestation as they have done in other regions of the county
In one of his moves to prevent the encroachment, he led a team of able-bodied community members to arrest group of Bourkinabes who he claimed illegally entered their concession area to cultivate forest land for cocoa farming.
Sampson Zarmie has reported a troubling situation following the arrest of individuals he referred to as “Burkinabes for cutting down valuable tree species in their community forest.
In an interview with the Liberia Forest Media Watch (LFMW) through its Rural Reporters News Network, Sampson said the arrested Burkinabes were turned over to the Liberia National Police and Forestry Development Authority for investigation.
But reports from the county says the police, rather than investigating the matter, accused Sampson and his group for damaging properties belonging to community members during the arrest, a clam Sampson denied.
“We explained to the police that we did not damage anything, and the police saw the evidence”, Also, despite the case being in court, the police insist I should report to the station, threatening to arrest me if I do not comply, Sampson said
Sampson expressed fear of being targeted for his efforts to combat deforestation and other illegal activities of the Burkinabes. “They said they will keep me in jail until they can finish with their work”, he told LFMW.
Adding to the tension, Sampson Zarmie revealed that the police arrested one of his men who accompanied him during their crackdown on the Bourkinabess and allegedly took away his money. “They even took one of the motorbikes on the highway, forcing the passenger to sleep in the bush”, he recounted what he termed as the aggressive tactics employed by the police.
Sampson remains hesitant to engage further with the police due to past experiences and fears for his safety, asserting, “I cannot go there because they heard me on Forest Hour radio show explaining the situation”. As the situation unfolds, the community watches closely, concerned about the implications for environmental protection efforts and the safety of those involved.
Sampson disclosed that the Burkinabe nationals they arrested and turned over to the police have been released and are back in the concession areas carrying on deforestation.
The Liberia National Police, Grand Gedeh detachment, has vehemently denied the allegations against them, stating that under no condition the police will forward a case to court and at the same time free those involved. The police, through Chief of Operations, Archie Dennis said as long the case was forwarded to court the police have no part to play in it.
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