ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Gibril Massaquoi consults with his lawyer in his war crimes trial Leslie Lumeh/New Narratives

Gibril Massaquoi consults with his lawyer in his war crimes trial Leslie Lumeh/New Narratives

Emotions halt hearing in Massaquoi war crimes trial

A witness, codenamed Civilian 27, told the court her son was tied up and killed by men under Massaquoi’s command.

byNew Narratives
March 19, 2021
3 min read
Joaquin Sendolo with New Narratives

For a second day in a row, emotions dominated proceedings in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Liberia.

The trial conducted by judges from the European country of Finland, where Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean, was living when he was charged, has moved its focus to the northern county of Lofa where victims said Massaquoi and his Revolutionary United Front rebels terrorised civilians during the dry season in 2001.

A witness, codenamed Civilian 27, told the court her son was tied up and killed by men under Massaquoi’s command.

“They entered our town and called all of us to gather at the center of the town. They went into the houses and took all of those valuable things and put the loads on our heads to take for them to Foya, and when we reach(ed) Kwendu Koindu Junction, it was when they fired at my son who was already tied and he fell dead,” she said through loud sobs.

The proceedings were paused to allow the woman to regain her composure.

The court has ordered the identities of the witnesses be kept secret because of a credible fear of retaliation or intimidation.

Civilian 27 echoed previous witnesses who said the soldiers were speaking Creole and Mende, two languages common in Sierra Leone and not Liberia.  

She also claimed to have seen and heard “Angel Gabriel,” a name all witnesses have said was used as an alias by Gibril Massaquoi during the war in Liberia.

Civilian 27, now in her late 50s, said one of the soldiers cut a piece off one of her ears. She claimed she still carried a scar though the court did not ask to see it.

RelatedNews

Aisha Buhari’s biographer appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to UNESCO

Peter Olayinka’s Slavia teammate handed 10-game ban for racist behaviour

2021 UTME: JAMB stops candidates from providing email addresses during registration

Why ex-Imo governor, Rochas Okorocha, is still in detention

“We were in Babarhun when the soldiers told us that they were acting on orders and their commander was coming,” she told the court. “He came on a jeep, and when he got down, he said he did not want to see a living thing.  We were all afraid, and in my presence, they killed two persons. The commander called his name as “Angel Gabriel”, and that was Gabriel Massaquoi. He called his name to us and said he was next to God.”

Quizzed by the defence to establish whether she truly knew Massaquoi, Civilian 27 said, “This man was Gibril Massaquoi. I knew him because he called his name to us.”

Massaquoi, 51, a former commander with the RUF, was a key witness in Special Court of Sierra Leone prosecutions of top rebel leaders including former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1)

The RUF and Taylor’s National Patriotic Front for Liberia had been close throughout the conflict in both countries with Taylor financing RUF activities in return for diamonds from Sierra Leone mines.

Massaquoi had been granted residency in Finland and immunity from prosecution for crimes in Sierra Leone in exchange for his testimony.

Victims’ advocates Civitas Maxima and Global Justice Research Project presented Finnish police with evidence of his crimes in Liberia leading him to be charged with those crimes and arrested in March 2020.

The Finnish court has moved to Liberia to hear from witnesses rather than transporting them to Finland to testify. The court will move on to Sierra Leone next month. Massaquoi has remained in Finland where he is monitoring proceedings through a videolink.

On Thursday another witness, codenamed Civilian 18, recalled 2001 as a year he experienced one of the worst parts of the war when his wife Sangay, and sister Ganbo, were both shot dead while distilling palm oil on their farm in Kortonhum.

“They enter(ed) my village in the morning and put all of us under gunpoint,” she told the four-judge panel. “Some of them went in the bush, saw my wife and my sister fixing palm oil, and shot them dead. They looted things and put the loads on our heads to carry for them. When we went far from the town, I managed to escape and I returned to the place where my family members were fixing the oil. I saw their dead bodies lying and getting spoiled. People who remained around the area came and we ‘brushed’ the area and buried them because their bodies could not be taken to the town,” he said in tears.

ADVERTISEMENT

A third witness told the court that the rebels, who were mostly Sierra Leoneans, set houses ablaze including his.  

“After taking us to Foya, they brought us to the centre of the town and a tall light skinned man stood and called us saying, ‘I am Angel Gabriel, next to God,’ and this is how I got to know his name. He was the commander who ordered the soldiers to burn the town and killed people, and his soldiers were always saying that they were acting on his orders.”

A fourth witness, codenamed Civilian 45, said government forces with inscriptions WO2, entered his village &and collected children, locked them up in a kitchen and set the kitchen ablaze. All were burned alive&.  

“They brought the children and put them in the veranda. They later put them inside and said ‘we need light,’ and that’s how they set the house on fire after putting the children inside,” he said.

Responding to the Defence lawyer, Civilian 45 said “Gabriel Massaquoi” ordered his men to burn houses. “They burned five houses in my presence,” he said.

This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.

New Narratives
New Narratives
  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate


TEXT AD: To advertise here . Call Willie +2347088095401...


JOIN THE CONVERSATION

  • Disqus (1)
premiumtimes



PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

Bribe: We’ll soon shame those behind my ‘cloned’ dollar video – Ganduje

Next Post

SPECIAL REPORT: How ESN’s attack on Orlu market led to orgy of violence

New Narratives

New Narratives

More News

Real Madrid play Liverpool in CHampions league. {CREDIT: Twitter handle of Champions League]

UCL: Real eliminate Liverpool, Guardiola’s City finally qualify for semi-final

April 14, 2021
Dr. Hajo Sani

Aisha Buhari’s biographer appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to UNESCO

April 14, 2021
Traditional leaders, participants at book launch on Economy and Restructuring of Nigeria

Yorubas have ‘graduated from restructuring to self-determination’ – Gani Adams

April 14, 2021
Omojuwa and Oby Ezekwesili

Alex Saab: Omojuwa backtracks over Ezekwesili’s link to PR firm

April 14, 2021
Candidates writing the JAMB exam at a CBT centre

2021 UTME: JAMB stops candidates from providing email addresses during registration

April 14, 2021
Uwemedimo Nwoko [Photo Credit: StraightNews]

EFCC arrests ex- Akwa Ibom attorney-general

April 14, 2021
Next Post
pro-biafra-protesters-690x450

SPECIAL REPORT: How ESN's attack on Orlu market led to orgy of violence

Sign post leading to the Isolation centre at Niles University.

COVID-19: Nigeria records no new deaths in two days

Discussion about this post

Search

#EndSARS: Latest Updates




Polaris Bank


JAIZ Ad


Explore Akwa Ibom Ad


Explore Akwa Ibom Ad


Access Bank Ad


NITDA Ad





Glo Ad

Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 1,651,522 other subscribers.

Advertisement






netherland biz school Advert



Zenith Advert

ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • Opinion
  • PT Hausa
  • The Membership Club
  • Dubawa
    • Dubawa NG
  • About Us
    • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Store
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.