Liberia: man found dead “with body parts missing” in Grand Kru County

Warning: graphic image

Liberia constitutes another never ending story as far as ritual killings are concerned. The reported ritual murder case below is shocking but, unfortunately, has a strong ‘seen before’ character.

The killing of Worteh Koffa is another murder in the southeastern part of Liberia, notorious for its ritualistic murders. The article below elaborates on these cases including Liberia’s most notorious ritual murder case which led to the arrest and subsequent conviction and sentencing – ‘death by hanging’ – of seven convicted rituals murderers, among whom two so-called ‘big shots’, the Superintendent of Maryland County, James Daniel Andersen (the personal representative of then Present Tolbert in this part of the country) , and the representative of Maryland County in the House of Representatives, Allen Yancy.
(webmaster FVDK)

Liberia: Gruesome Murder in Grand Kru County

Published: May 3, 2022
By: Leroy M. Sonpon, III – Daily Observer

A man in his late 20s, named Worteh Koffa, has been found dead “with body parts missing” in Grand Kru County. 

The deceased, according to a 15-man coroner jury in Grand Kru County died as a result of ritualistic killing.  The coroner jury reported that the late Worteh’s eyes, tongue, fingers and toenails, and other body parts were missing upon discovery of his body in early April  2022 on the beach in Grandcess City, Grand Kru County District #1.

Worteh’s death comes just a year after a 23-years old motorcyclist named Mordecail Nyemah for ritualistic purposes in Maryland County, which is a southeastern county like Grand Kru. The deceased was discovered dead with his right eye plugged, and right fingers cut off in Pleebo during the morning hours of March 25, 2021, and it triggered a wave of violent riot both in Pleebo and the Maryland County’s capital, Harper.

Suspect Moses Mlamah said in a video interview that he was sent by a man identified as Daniel Wesseh to get blood for reasons and was paid to do so. He added that he enlisted the help of two others to carry out the act. The issue about ritualistic killings in the southeast is not anything strange with Maryland County seeing a  series of ritualistic murders that occurred around Harper, in the 1970s.

Between 1965 and 1977 over 100 murders occurred in Maryland County, many of which were considered ritualistic due to the mutilation and removal of body parts. During the 1970s, Liberians in Maryland County were constantly under the threat of ritual murders. Between November 1976 and July 1977, 14 people had disappeared in the county prompting Liberian president William Tolbert to fire Superintendent of Maryland County, James Daniel Anderson, who failed to report the missing people. Tolbert publicly declared “Anyone who kills deliberately: The law will kill that person.”

These murders went unreported and uninvestigated until the murder of a local fisherman and popular singer, Moses Tweh. Tweh was abducted on June 26, 1977. His body was discovered on July 4, 1977, heavily mutilated with his eyes, ears, nose, tongue and penis removed. Prior to the discovery of Tweh’s body, Wreh Taryonnoh, the girlfriend of Assistant Supervisor of Schools, Francis Nyepan, was allegedly heard by a group searching for Tweh saying that “if they would be so lucky to find him, only his bones they might see”. This sparked the arrest of 12 people, a majority of whom were government officials.

During the first Harper Trial, Joshua Brown and Teah Toby were released and later became state witnesses. The other ten defendants were found guilty and sentenced to public execution by hanging. Tagbedi Wisseh appealed his conviction and was pardoned by Tolbert before execution. Wonplu Boye and Koti Weah both died before execution, it was rumored their own family members poisoned them to avoid shame.

On 16 February 1979, the seven remaining people convicted of Moses Tweh’s murder were publicly hanged at dawn in Harper. The media dubbed them the “Harper Seven” The crimes back then were regarded as “Liberia’s most notorious ritual killing case” due to the number of murders, the involvement of high ranking government officials and their subsequent public executions.

Meanwhile, up to press time, the Liberian National Police Detachment in Grand Kru County is still tightlipped on the investigation of Worteh’s death.

Worteh’s mother has therefore called on the government to probe the mysterious death of her son as “her family remains peaceful and awaits the outcome of any investigation.   His death has caused fear among youths in the county and there appears to be a self-imposed curfew among residents of the area, fearing for their own safety.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker and Acting Chairman of the Grand Kru County Legislative Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, on has condemned the gruesome and ritualistic murder of Worteh Koffa and called on the Minister of Justice to put more resources into the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators.

On his Facebook page, the Grand Kru County District #2 lawmaker noted that: “We condemn in the strongest terms the gruesome and ritualistic murder of young Worteh Koffa. I have placed a call to the Minister of Justice to put more resources in the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators.”

Cllr. Koffa added: “The age-old practice of ritualistic killings, for whatever purpose, must end. I call on the peaceful citizens of Grandcess to remain calm and law-abiding and assist in the investigation. No young person should have his promising life taken away by nefarious and heartless creatures. I call for a swift and speedy investigation.”

Source: Liberia: Gruesome Murder in Grand Kru County

General Quiwonkpa, revenge and juju in Liberia

Much has already been written (and said) about the late Thomas G. Quiwonkpa, one of the main perpetrators of the bloody 1980 coup in Liberia – if not the most important – who savagely toppled the regime of President William Tolbert. Thomas Quiwonkpa was a Gio from Nimba County and at the time of the coup a corporal in the Liberian Army. The reason why he did not emerge as the leader of the coup was that his comrade Samuel Kanyon Doe, a Krahn from Grand Gedeh County, was a master-sergeant in the same army, hence one military grade higher than Quiwonkpa. Doe thus became leader of the PRC, the People’s Redemption Council. Quiwonkpa was promoted General and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

However, the two comrades later fell out and – to shorten a long story – in 1983 Quiwonkpa fled to the United States to escape an inevitable death by Doe loyalists. After fraudulent elections in 1985, Quiwonkpa returned with a group of armed men to install the real winner but the attempted coup against Samuel Doe failed. Quiwonkpa was captured by Doe’s forces, killed and partly cannibalized, his mutilated body publicly exhibited.

Using parts of Quiwonkpa’s body for ritualistic purposes and exposing his mutilated body publicly was meant to create juju and to enhance his killers’ power and prestige. Notably Samuel Doe and his Krahn soldiers who had captured the late General were to benefit from the thus created juju. (Source: Fred van der Kraaij, ‘Liberia: From the Love of Liberty to Paradise Lost’. African Studies Centre Leiden, 2015, p.52-56).

Liberia’s history is full of irony. When in 1990 President Samuel Doe was tortured to death by rebel commander Prince Johnson and his group he suffered the same fate. Doe’s mutilated body was publicly exposed in Monrovia (Source: Idem, p. 63) Warning – readers are warned that the picture of the late President Doe (below) might be found disturbing.

Thomas Quiwonkpa (left) and Samuel Doe (right) after the coup, April 1980.
Liberian soldiers point their rifles at the mutilated body of the late President Samuel Doe, September 1990.
Image by © Patrick Robert/Sygma/Corbis

On March 10, 2020 an article appeared in the Daily Observer, one of Liberia’s leading newspapers, entitled ‘Memorial to Late Gen. Thomas G. Quiwonkpa Under Construction in Ganta, and for shortness sake it will be reproduced below.

Memorial to Late Gen. Thomas G. Quiwonkpa Under Construction in Ganta

Monument to Quiwonkpa: “Today, he is gone, but nothing is left of him as a memorial for someone to lay wreath or pay homage on Decoration Day or even the Armed Forces Day,” said Ebenezer Williams.

Published: March 10, 2020
By: The Daily Observer, Ishmael F. Menkor 

It appears to be one of the most unlikely places but, the Sanana Funeral Home in Ganta, along the road leading to Sanniquellie, Nimba County, has sealed on its wall the memorial of the late General Thomas G. Quiwonkpa. Quiwonkpa was killed in an aborted coup staged by him in 1985, and there is no trace of his grave as reports at the time noted that he was butchered with his heart extracted and testes placed in wine and drunk by his killers.

General Quiwonkpa, like some others including then Head-of-State Samuel Doe of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC), who seized power in 1980 following the assassination of President William R. Tolbert on April 12, do not have graves and therefore their surviving families and relatives are not able to memorialize them on Decoration Day on the second Wednesday in March of every year.

The proprietor of the Sanana funeral home, Ebenezer Williams, told the Daily Observer that the late Quiwonkpa was one of Liberia’s heroes, but nothing has been enshrined in any part of Liberia as a memorial. The memorial, still under construction, is expected to be covered in marble.

The late Gen. Thomas G. Quiwonkpa

“I saw him at the Du-Side Hospital when I was small at the time. He used to visit the hospital for an eye treatment, and was always sharing with us every time we visited him,” he said.

“Today, he is gone, but nothing is left of him as a memorial for someone to lay wreath or pay homage on Decoration Day or even the Armed Forces Day,” he said.

“This marble design in his honor will certainly make his memory not to be lost and will create an avenue for people for come to pay their respect,” he added.

The late General Thomas G. Quiwonkpa was born July 24, 1955 and was a member of the People’s Redemption Council, a governing military junta that overthrew President William Richard Tolbert on April 12, 1980, by assassination.

The late General Quiwonkpa defected from the PRC in 1983 after he was removed as Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia and given the position of Secretary-General.

He later went into exile and returned in 1985 as head of a dissident group called the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which staged an aborted coup and was killed.

Since the brutal death of the late Quewonkpa, there has been no memorialization of him, neither in his county nor the country.  Similar fate befell President Samuel Doe, who was also captured on September 9, 1990 and killed by the rebel group, Independent National Patriotic Front (INPFL) of Prince Johnson who is now a Senator of Nimba County. Sen. Johnson’s testimonies during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings indicated that Doe’s body was buried, then exhumed following request for an assessment. By tradition, since he could not be buried twice, the late President’s body was cremated and the ashes scattered in the river in Caldwell, where the INPFL had its base.

Williams, proprietor of the Sanana Funeral Home, is not a native of Nimba; however, he believes the slain General Quiwonkpa was a good and honest man in the Armed Forces of Liberia who needs to be remembered.

“We want people to constantly pay homage to this place and lay a wreath, either on his birthday, Decoration Day, or even the Armed Forces Day,” he concluded.

The people of Grand Gedeh County are also contemplating on erecting a monument in memory of slain President Samuel Doe to memorialize him.  Scores of PRC members including Vice Head-of-State Thomas Wey-sehn and Deputy Vice Head-of-State, J. Nicholas Podier, also seem to have no identifiable graves to decorate.

Source: Memorial to Late Gen. Thomas G. Quiwonkpa Under Construction in Ganta

Recommended additional reading for those interested in Liberia’s politics and history:

Quote: “Quiwonkpa was captured and on November 15 was killed and mutilated by Krahn soldiers loyal to Doe . His killers then dismembered his body and reportedly ate parts of it. His body was publicly exhibited on the grounds of the Executive Mansion in Monrovia soon after his death.” Unquote
Source: Thomas Quiwonkpa – click here

Warning: a shocking account with graphic contents (webmaster FVDK):
General Quiwonkpa and Marconi: a connection of deadly proportions – click here

Warning: the follows contains graphic details (webmaster FVDK):
The Rise And Fall Of Samuel Doe Of Liberia (graphic Pics & Video ) – click here

Nigeria: mutilated dead body found near army checkpoint in Aba (Abia State)

Warning: the article below contains gruesome details of the death of the unknown victim whereas the original article (see Source) contains a graphic photo of the deceased. (webmaster FVDK).  

The mutilated body of the victim

Published: May 23, 2019
By: Ngozi Onwukwe (AbaCityBlog)  

A mutilated dead body of a yet to be identified young man was found on Wednesday morning at the popular Bata Junction, in Aba Abia State.

The body which was found just adjacent of an army checkpoint at Bata Junction has sent residents into deep panic of the presence of ritual killers in town.

The yet to be identified victim on a closer look should be in his late 20s or early 30s before he met his untimely death.His dead body has badly mutilated as he had his intestines chartered and some important parts of his body like private part and heart were also removed by his killers.

Residents said the time of the incident is not known to them, but majority agreed it could be in the wee hours of Wednesday as the body was still fresh as at when we visited the scene.

They said the killing and mutilation of the deceased body has brought more panic to them especially those of them residing around the crime prone Ogbor-Hill axis that links the Bata Junction to Aba main town.

“The way the body was dumped with his private part and heart cut off sends message that ritualists are in town. We are in serious trouble if ritual killers are in this town.

“Everybody is afraid about the problems we have been having with tricycle robbers now that they have started killing and cutting out human parts, we are in deeper trouble,” one of the residents said.

Anyawu Emeka, a Keke riders said, “The issue looks more like money ritual because the place they dumped his body is strategic in this town.

“Bata Junction is like a confluence in Aba because almost everyone entering the main town must pass through here. Honestly, Aba is sinking security wise.”

It was gathered from some residents and commuters that the matter was reported to the nearest police station to the incident, the Eziama Police Division for further actions very early in the morning.

It was also gathered from the residents that officials of the Aba South LGA Environmental Health Department which as gathered has jurisdiction of the area have been informed to come and evacuate of the dead body for evacuation.

“It’s under our jurisdiction. We are aware of it. I’ve been there to observe the place and the deceased is not even a mad person. It’s not an elderly. It’s a young man.

“I don’t know what really happened there. It police will carry out their investigation and also we expect that through media, the family members might be reached to come.

“If it is is there till tomorrow morning, we’ll handle it. Nobody has identified the corpse for now. We cannot allow it to be a public nuisance. We cannot allow it to decompose there. We’ll handle it by tomorrow if nobody comes in for it today,” she said.

When contacted, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, the Public Relations Officer of Abia State Police Command said he is not aware of the incident as he has not been briefed about it.

Source: Mutilated dead body found near army checkpoint in Aba

Related article: Abia CP vows to investigate suspected ritual killing in Aba
Published: May 22, 2019
By: The Eagle Online 

Police Commissioner in Abia, Ene Okon, has vowed to unravel culprits involved in the murder and removal of the body parts of a young man in Aba on Tuesday night.
Okon made the vow in a phone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Aba on Wednesday.
He said: “The information I heard was that the man was a mentally deranged person but the removal of his parts is what I do not understand.
“If they are now removing the body parts of lunatics for rituals, that is adding another dimension to criminality which is very strange and which Operation Puff Adder will work towards that area.
“Rest assured that we will investigate that murder because although the report I heard was that the man was a lunatic, even a lunatic cannot just die like that so we are going to investigate it.”
The sighting of the young man’s lifeless body with heart and private part removed threw Aba residents into panic Wednesday as they suspected the style of murder signaled the return of ritual killers to Aba.
The body of the yet-to-be identified young man was discovered early in the morning by traders going to the market and was dumped at Bata Junction faced down.
The young man, who should be in his early 30s, had his intestines pulled out from the belly and some other parts missing in the style, residents said, was akin to ritual killing.
A source, who refused to be named, said the killing of the young man with his traveling bag beside him may have happened in the late hours of Tuesday or early hours of Wednesday.
The source said: “I tell you, this kind of killing which showed the parts of this young man harvested, has caused me to shiver and fear because if this kind of thing is to return to Aba, then we are in big trouble.
“Who will chase after them? Who can stop them?
“Robbers have been robbing and killing people with tricycles even near police and military checkpoints and nothing has happened, tell me how can we be safe in this city with ritualists?”
Emeka Anyawu, a tricycle riders said: “The issue looks more like money ritual because the place they dumped his body is strategic in this town.
“Bata Junction is like a confluence in Aba because almost everyone entering the main town must pass through here. Honestly, Aba is sinking, security wise.”
NAN learnt that the matter was reported to the nearest police station which is Eziama Police station and also the Aba South Environmental Health department in the morning.
However, the corpse remained at the center of the junction till late Wednesday although it had been covered with cellophane material.
When contacted, the Head of Department, Environmental Health, Aba South LGA,  Onyinyechi Nwigwe said she had inspected the corpse but cannot order removal because it required police approval.
Nwigwe also stated that if no member of the victim’s family showed up to evacuate his body, the health office would then do their work.
She said: “It is under our jurisdiction; we are aware of it; I have been there to observe the place and the deceased is not even a mad person; he is a young man.
“I don’t know what really happened there. It is the police that will carry out investigation and we expect that through the media, the family members might be reached.
“If it remains there till tomorrow morning, we will handle it. Nobody has identified the corpse for now.
“We cannot allow it to become a public nuisance. We cannot allow it to decompose there. We’ll handle it by tomorrow if nobody comes in for it today.”

Source: Abia CP vows to investigate suspected ritual killing in Aba

Abia State – Nigeria