Liberians Lamentations at ‘March against Drugs’ -Tearful Testimonies Told About Ruins of Drug Scourge

MONROVIA – Thousands of Liberians who braved the gloomy weather did not turn out for the sake of it; they did not show up to put up a mere spectacle or just to be amongst the number. Many had heart-wrenching stories regarding how the drug pandemic has ruined families; some carried the hurts of sorrows that the ceaseless cold rains of Thursday, August 7, 2025 could not wash away. They spoke to The Analyst as H. Matthew Turry reports.

In a unified and emotionally charged display of concern for alarming surge of drugs abuse and trafficking across the country, thousands of Liberians defying intimidations from a heavy downpour of rain took to the streets of Monrovia yesterday, Thursday, August 7, 2025, demanding immediate and decisive government action to combat the growing drug epidemic threatening the nation’s future.

Early Thursday morning the entire streets in Montserrado County witness the voices of grieving parents, students, activists, community leaders, and concerned citizens from all sectors including government line Ministries, Agencies, and Commissions under a banner, “Say No To Drugs”,  marched peacefully but boldly and passionately through Monrovia to the grounds of the Capitol Building. They carried banners, brandishing with signs of despondency, singing songs of solemnity but resilience, and calling on authorities to end what they described as a “National Nightmare.”

This uprising of civic will signals a critical shift in public consciousness. No longer waiting in silence, Liberians are declaring that the fight against drugs is no longer solely the government’s responsibility; it is a war that must be fought by all.

As addiction and drug-related crimes surge across the country, citizens demanded not just promises, but the real of policies, swift crackdowns on traffickers, and rehabilitation programs to rescue Liberia’s youth from the grip of destruction.

Today’s demonstration marks a boiling point, and a bold warning that Liberians are watching, and refuse to be silent any longer.

Speaking to journalists on the usage and impact of drugs, 12-year old John Robert of Saye Town Sinkor expressed his thoughts: “We came out to say we don’t want drugs; drugs can kill the people, and it is killing our brothers, sisters and parents.”

She continued: “My big brother is in the street. He used to help teach me and at times pay my school fees, but now he is unable to do that again because of the drugs.”

Little Robert she was “feeling very bad that my brother is in the streets. My pa and ma don’t have money and they are not working. That one organization paying my school fees to go to school, and my brother who was helping our parents is now on the street. I want the government to put stop to drugs in Liberia, our big brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers are spoiling in Liberia.”

Another campaigner, a 59 year old who simply called herself Ma T., drenched by the rains also told her children: “We are dying. Let them take the drugs out of this country. I am one of the victims.

“I have three children; the same drug problem took them into the street. The children that supposed to help me at the time am old are all drugs on drum, useless to me,” he told The Analyst.

She said she is taking care of children at a school and from her meager salary, school is taking her huge fees for grandchildren.

“My grandchildren’s mother is abusing drugs. My children are big enough, all out of school, to take care of her children. But they can. Drug has stolen their value, their future and the children of their children.

 “I want the government to find place and put these children that are drug addicts. Let the government open vocational school for them to learn something. Our futures are spoiling. Our futures are dying,” she said. 

Alhaji Senwah the Assistant Secretary General of the Center for the Exchange of Intellectual Opinion (CIO) was amongst the marchers. He said: “The future of Liberian Youth is being jeopardized due to the use and abuse of illicit drugs and other harmful substances traded on the streets and ghettoes in all parts of the country.

According to him, hundreds of youth, including adolescent boys and girls, as well as women and children are victims of the unbearable outcomes of drug-trafficking and smuggling, thereby deteriorating their living conditions and causing them to become unproductive citizens;

Senwah noted that families of drug victims are suffering from emotional and psychological traumas, because their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, relatives and loved-ones are languishing in ghettoes with no hope of going back to their respective homes.

“Drug cartels consistently tortured, brutalized and silently killed our brothers and sisters because they couldn’t account for certain amount of dollars and cents that should be reported after the sale of narcotic or illicit drugs, such as, Cocaine, Marijuana, Heroin, Tobacco, Shisha, Kush, Solar Panel, Spark & Kill,” he continue.

“The death rate of the youthful population continues to skyrocket due to the high consumption of these harmful substances,” he said further. “Our communities are fast becoming unsafe environments to live due to the dens of ghettoes and evaporating cases of theft, arm robbery, ambling, rap all forms of violence.” A campaigner whose name was captured raised her voice and she raised on poster: “Our children are dying. Our future is under attack. If the government won’t act, we the people will rise.”