--As Fear Grip Zorzor District Residents
The people of Zeyeama clan, Zorzor district Lofa County, are demanding justice and that the killer of Klubo Tarnue should be speedily tried.
Mama Tarnue, Chairlady of Zeyeama Clan said she and her female counterparts in the clan and Zorzor district will remain unwavering till perpetrators are brought to justice.
She accused the government through the county authorities of reneging on ensuring that Klubo’s killers are speedily brought to justice in order to adequately address the increased rate of ritualistic killings in the county, particularly Zorzor district over the past four years.
“We are afraid to go on our farms or to even travel alone because it is possible that similar thing (killing) could happen to anyone of us or our children if we are not careful,” said Mama Tarnue.
Madam Tarnue noted that the brutal murder of Klubo and subsequent extraction of her body parts was a complete disgrace to womanhood.
Residents of Zorzor District are said to be living in fear following the brutal killing of their kinsmen in the district.
According to some residents, mainly women and youth, since the discovery of the lifeless body of Klubo Tarnue along the Konia-Zorzor road near Kabbeh village, they are afraid of travelling alone.
Klubo Tarnue was found dead few yards away from Kabbeh village where the deceased lived prior to her death with some body parts missing, including her private part and ear on July 29, 2011, barely two days following the 164th Independence Day celebration.
Kebbeh village is about ten minutes away from Konia where Korpo Kamara was also killed in 2010 in Zeyeama clan, Zorzor District, Lofa County.
Korpo’s death sparked violent protest last year which led to the death of four persons and properties destroyed.
Following the discovery of Klubo’s body on July 29, about 14 persons, including the Sectional Chief of Zeyeama Clan, David Zubah were arrested; but ten persons were later released while the remaining four persons, including the deceased boyfriend, Tarnue F. Lewis and others are still in police custody undergoing investigations.
“We don’t want them (government) to play with this killing business like the ones that have been happening in the past; it is getting too much now in this district…and we will not rest until justice is done,” the Sectional Chief of Zeyeama Clan David Zubah stressed.
The young looking Chief said they are beginning to be frightened by the level of inconsistencies that are emerging from the accused testimonies to the police.
According to Chief Zubah, the accused had initially told the police that he killed Klubo along with John Harris, his brother Karwolo Harris, two prominent sons of the area, and another accused only identified as Mulbah.
However, the chief said the accused latest testimony that he killed the victim alone is worrisome.
Chief Zubah said suspect Lewis told the police in his second testimony that he killed Klubo in their three-room mud hut and later placed her on his shoulder and dumped her lifeless body near the village along the road.
Lofa County Superintendant Galakpai Kortimai could not comment on the matter, even though he had initially promised through a telephone conversation to have done so before leaving for Monrovia on August 4, 2011.
For his part, the County Attorney of Lofa, Luther J. Sumo, called on the citizens to remain calm as government was doing everything to ensure the perpetrators are prosecuted in accordance with the laws.
“The people of that area are also part of the government; so, we count on them to assist us in providing to the police the necessary information that will help to make the investigation faster and easier,” Atty. Sumo told The News in a telephone interview.
The Lofa County Attorney, who was also out of the county attending a workshop in Monrovia, assured that the government will not relent in prosecuting anyone who will be found in connection with the crime.
There have been about four cases of ritualistic killings in the area since 2007.
A group of Lofa youth under the banner, ‘Lofa County Youth Seeking Justice’ recently threatened to stage demonstration in demand of justice for the high wave of ritualistic killings in the county.
The demonstration which was initially scheduled for July 26th was later canceled by the group following several consultations with key stakeholders of the county.
The group claimed that since the deaths of Vawuee Kezelee of Kpazagezia in 2007, Patrick Mulbah in 2008 and Korpo Kamara in 2010, the government has refused to implement recommendations from the investigating committee.
The death of Klubo Tarnue brings to four the number of persons who have been killed in the county, particularly Zorzor District in less than five years.
According to the 2008 National Housing and Population Census, Zorzor is one of the six districts in Lofa with a population of 40,352. Writes, Sam Zota, Jr. (August 10, 2011)
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