- By Prince D. Copeland, with The DayLight
FISH TOWN – An Ivorian boy who recently crossed the Ivorian border into Liberia to work on a cocoa farm has been found dead in a River Gee Forest, the police said.
Fifteen-year-old Deppuh Kobera had gone missing last Wednesday, farming cocoa in the Kwawe Gee-forest in Glorra District Forest, according to the River Gee Police Detachment. His body was discovered three days later in a nearby forest, beheaded, with bullet wounds to the head. A 15-man jury confirmed foul play.
“The investigation is growing deeper to establish who his killers are, how he came to Liberia, who lodged him, and where he was living,” said Theophilus Togba, River Gee Assistant Police Commander. “The situation is really tragic and embarrassing because someone crossed the border from the Ivory Coast into Liberia and lost his life here.”
No suspects have been arrested since the discovery. Meanwhile, the investigation continues, according to the police.
“We have started speaking with residents in that place, and they are giving us some traces of the incident,” Togba said to this reporter without stating when the outcome of the investigation would be released to the public.
Kobera’s death is the fourth in the region linked to the influx of Burkinabe cocoa migrants. Last month, Eric Nyenpan, Sabastine Saylee, and Aaron Teah, three men of the Kiteabo and Glarro subtribes, were murdered in a land dispute. Over 20 suspects were arrested and sent to the Fish Town Central Prison, where they await trial in that case.
With support from Liberian hosts, Burkinabés cross the border along the Cavalla River in search of cocoa farmland. Immigration authorities have recorded 55,000 Burkinabés, with over 4,000 recorded in River Gee.
This story was a Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ) production. It first appeared in The DayLight and has been published here as part of an editorial collaboration.
