MONROVIA – In the wake of the allegations being levied against him in the aftermath of the attack on the residence of Cllr. Gloria Musu-Scott, former Chief Justice of Liberia which resulted into the death of a niece of the jurist, Miss Cherloe Musu and injuries to others, the Lord Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Koijee has written to the Minister of Justice, Cllr Frank Musah Dean complaining about “the continuous falsehood and misrepresentation of my character by the former Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Cllr. Jerome Verdier who is believed to be in the United States of America”.
In his letter, Mr. Koijee told Minister Dean that “on February 23, 2023, on Spoon Talk, a phone-in show and other networks, Cllr. Verdier, without any facts and information available to him, launched a vile attack on my person for an unexplained reason(s). Moreover, he maliciously lied that Varle Telleh, an ex-combatant under my instructions, participated in an unfortunate armed robbery at the home of Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott, former Chief Justice of Liberia. Further, Cllr. Verdier wrongly informed the public that Mr. Telleh is the “Deputy Director for operations” of the Monrovia City Police, City Government of Monrovia, information that is baseless and unfounded”.
The City Mayor asserted that Mr. Verdier’s view about him on the Spoon TV program was not the first time the human rights activist spew out such a spiteful statement or remarks on my character for reason(s) best to him. “It can be vividly recalled that Cllr. Verdier misinformed the public that I was a participant of the Liberian civil war as a child soldier which was disproven”, he said.
“Honorable Minister, I would like to be categorical that Varle Telleh is a patrolman of the Monrovia City Police and not Deputy for operations as fallaciously stated by Cllr. Verdier. Mr. Telleh is a current lecturer of MASJID TAHALELE Mosque, a renowned Muslim school in Brewerville with an enrollment of 200 students, where he is also an imam and has been making impactful contributions to our country.
“Additionally, I wish to inform you that Mr. Telleh is current in Liberia and duly employed with us at the City Government and as you deem fit or the police, I commit to having him turned over to your office for investigation as we all look forward to finding the perpetrators of the crime against the former Chief Justice and the State”, he said.
The Secretary General of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change(CDC) said “in view of the wanton claims by Cllr. Verdier, I have notified my lawyers both home and abroad to pursue a lawsuit against him to ascertain the truth in order to bring to an end these repeated, unprovoked, groundless and cruel attacks on my character”.
It can be recalled that Koijee had also hosted a press conference to publicly dismiss the accusations linking him to the attack and had called for an independent probe to investigate the mayhem and bring to justice any perpetrator involved in the incident.
There has been no information about how far Mr. Koijee has gone with the legal action he intends to institute against Cllr. Verdier who is currently residing in the United States of America.