Koijee Dispels Cllr. Verdier Allegations -But Questions Linger over Varlee Telleh’s Whereabouts

MONROVIA – In a bid to debunk the plethora of grievous allegations levelled against him by former Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chairman Cllr. Jerome Verdier, that he Mayor Jefferson Koijee ordered a hit on former Supreme Court Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott, which was allegedly executed by Monrovia City Police Deputy Chief of Operations Varlee Telleh, leaving Cllr. Scott’s daughter Chaloe Musu gruesomely murdered and others wounded, Mayor Koijee has refuted the allegations as malicious, stating that he has never ever participated in spilling the blood of a chicken, let alone the killing of his fellow human being.

It may be recalled, while speaking on the Spoon talk show last Thursday, Cllr. Verdier lamented: “Jefferson Koijee is the one who ordered that hit on Justice Gloria Musu Scott. And, as we all have realized, killings have gone on. We have reports that we are planning on to release: the three missing boys, and that was directly done by President Weah himself; the killing of Barten Nyenswah was done by agents of the very Koijee. We have the full comprehensive report on that, and the killings go on and on.t

Verdier went on to say that after the botched hit job by executioner Varlee Telleh, Mayor Jefferson Koijee was allegedly pissed off with him and decided to pay his remaining pay for the job through a third party. Cllr. Verdier said Koijee scolded his underman for missing the main target and eliminating an innocent child.

“He told him (Varlee Telleh) specifically that he wasn’t sent to kill a child. He had a target, and killing an innocent baby is not part of his work, not part of his mission. So, Jefferson Koijee refused to meet the guy and they had this altercation. Koijee sent his balance money to a third party who delivered it to him. Koijee wasn’t satisfied with the outcome because a child was killed,” Verdier alleged on Spoon Talk.

But Koijee retorted, “I am a testimony to the glory of a truth living God God. I encourage the government apparatus to launch a speedy investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Koijee said. He added, “My lawyers are reviewing the things he has said against me, because I am considering a lawsuit against him.” 

Responding further to Cllr. Verdier’s allegations, the Monrovia City Mayor said it is Verdier who should be questioned as a person of interest in the gruesome attack on Justice Scott’s residence which led to the death of her daughter.

“Verdier is not only accusing me. But he’s also accusing the president. By him being in the US and using the airwaves to threaten the stability of Liberia, we must utilize our relationship with the US government against those that undermine the stability of our country as we go to elections,” Mayor Koijee stated unequivocally, noting that Cllr. Verdier should be considered a “person of interest” based on his allegations about what transpired at Justice Scott’s residence.

“We all were shocked about the death and the incident at Justice Scott’s residence. She’s a prominent citizen. We are encouraging investigation into the matter. No Liberian deserves to lose their life,” Koijee lamented, adding that the investigation will bring the criminals to book, who he said are in the constant habit of installing pandemonium in the society.  

Where is Varlee Telleh?

Meanwhile, as the Liberia National Police (LNP) says it has launched an investigation into the incident that took place at the Brewerville home of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott on Wednesday night, February 22, 2023, leading to the death of one of her children, concerns are being raised over the whereabouts of Varlee Telleh, the man fingered by Cllr. Verdier as the executioner of the hit job.

According to Cllr. Verdier and other guests who appeared on Spoon Talk on Saturday, February 25, 2023, Varlee Telleh has already absconded the country through the instrumentality of Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee. According to the Spoon Talk panelists and guests, Mayor Koijee escorted Varlee Telleh to Ganta, Nimba County, where he Varlee was escorted to the Guinean border.

Cllr. Verdier also revealed on that edition of Spoon Talk that Varlee Telleh was directly involved in the death of Matthew Innis because of his (Innis) investigation into the missing US$25 million mop-up exercise money.

Innis was accordingly beaten to a pulp and injected with a lethal substance and his body was taken near his residence where an accident scene was enacted around 1:00 am, Verdier said.

“They beat him, and when he was weak and overpowered, they injected him with some substance to disable him so that he wouldn’t be effective. And they took him to the death scene. If you listen to the police report at the time, they said he was coming from work. Coming from work at 1:00 in the morning, when he went to work on Saturday? They took him to the death scene and staged an accident. Mr. Varlee Telleh drove a blue pickup. We are looking for the owner of that pickup. From our information, Mr. Telleh drove that pickup, but he doesn’t own that pickup. We want to know who owns that pickup? One Mustapha drove the car of Mr. Innis to the scene and Varlee drove the pickup. He was accompanied in the pickup by Mr. Jefferson Koijee, and they went to the scene and decided to stage an accident,” Verdier alleged.

In a strange twist of events, a former confidant of President Weah, Sheikh Sackor, appeared on the talk show as a guest and confirmed that the pickup was given to him by the Russians who had sponsored Weah’s 2017 presidential bid.

Mr. Sackor said the pickup in question was being used by Varlee Telleh at the time to carry out his (Sackor’s) mining operations in Nimba County. Sackor said, to his utmost surprise, Tellah only called him one day to say that the pickup was damaged because water had entered the engine. Sackor said as far as he knows, the pickup in question has been parked at a local garage for the past two to three years.

According to a press release from LNP, Justice Scott revealed in a radio interview a few days ago that her family had witnessed multiple attempts by alleged burglars to break into her home at night, and the report from Justice Scott led to an increase in police patrol in the area.

The statement furthered that preliminary findings from the Wednesday night incident, which occurred about 9:30 pm, as narrated by Scott, revealed that a man who was part of a crew she hired to carry out some construction work at her residence remained hidden inside at the end of the workday while his colleagues had retired for the day.

The man, whom former Chief Justice Scott said she had observed during the day as looking somewhat “strange,” attacked her family at night and killed one of her daughters when he was tackled.

“The preliminary investigation shows no evidence of a break-in. The police are currently in search of the suspected robbers and urge the public to come forward with any information that will aid their investigation,” the LNP stated.

When journalists queried Mayor Koijee whether he (Koijee) had any knowledge of one Varlee Telleh working in the MCC who was accused by Cllr. Verdier as being the mastermind behind the attack on Justice Scott’s residence, the Monrovia City Mayor said, to attempt to delve into who works at the MCC, he would not comment on that.

“I will even encourage the international community to help us to bring closure to this incident. This is not the time to politicize people’s grievance,” Koijee stated, while expressing his sincere condolences to Justice Gloria Musu Scott for the loss that she encountered.

However, Koijee said no government official or any Liberian deserves to be under attack as he expressed his sincere sympathy to the former Chief Justice, adding that he has instructed the leadership of the Monrovia City Corporation to make contact with Cllr. Scott to pay her a visit as she goes through the period of bereavement and difficulty.

Comments are closed.