LACKEYTA, Margibi – Residents of Kollie-Kiane-ta and other surrounding villages in Margibi’s Lackeyta Township are concerned about their safety after the discovery of the lifeless body of a man in a creek that villagers use for bathing and other purposes.

On early Sunday morning, the village awoke to news that John Davis, casual laborer and a father of nine, had died.

According to reports, the deceased, believed to be in his late 40s, had been hired by a resident of the village, Sackie Kaine, on Saturday, March 18 to brush his sugar cane farm. Kaine and Davis then later attended a birthday celebration for a neighbor’s child later that evening. Davis went missing and was subsequently found dead on Sunday morning, March 19.

The suspicious death has caused a cessation of normal farming activities within the village as the Liberia National Police has launched an investigation and a 15-member coroner jury report has suspected foul play.

As the investigation continues, the police have ordered the burial of the body with consent from the family due to its decomposed state.

Papa Tokpah, a member of the community’s policing forum who also served on the coroner jury, told The Bush Chicken that the man might have been murdered by ritualistic killers as evidenced by the types of wounds on the body.

“There was a deep wound at the back of the man’s head and we also noticed that his neck was broken,” Tokpah said.

“We’re on our alert because the thing that has happened is causing fear in everyone,” he said, adding that the villagers have been advising women and children to be especially careful when moving around the village.

At the same time, the township commissioner, Omega Sawyer, has called on residents to cooperate with the police to aid them in resolving the investigation.

Police officers are currently interrogating four persons who last interacted with Davis on the night he went missing.

Meanwhile, the widow of the deceased, Bendu Davis, has launched a passionate plea for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Davis’s widow, poses with four of her children. Photo: Emmanuel Degleh

She also sought assistance from the government and philanthropists to provide assistance to her family, as she said life would now be unbearable for her nine children in the absence of their father, who was their breadwinner.

“I don’t have any family here, so it’s the government I’m depending to help me and my children,” she said. “We don’t have food, it was my husband who used to cut palm nuts and sell it before we [ate].”

Lackeyta Township is infamous for mysterious deaths that go unresolved. In 2013, the gruesome killing of Korpo Beyan on her farm sparked protest.

Featured photo by Emmanuel Degleh