Liberia: Senate Judiciary Chair Urges Police Chief to Step Aside in Drug Probe

What the report says

Liberia’s Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Augustine S. Chea of Sinoe County, has called on the country’s police inspector general and other senior security officials to step aside from the drug trafficking investigation. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Chea argued that agencies with possible links to the matter cannot credibly investigate themselves and said any such recusal should be viewed as a safeguard for an impartial probe.

The appeal follows the temporary recusal of Fitzgerald T.M. Biago, the officer-in-charge of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, after allegations that he received a vehicle from people allegedly connected to drug trafficking. Chea said the same standard should apply more broadly if there are conflicts of interest within the security sector. He also warned against what he described as shifting public attention toward opposition figures while possible internal concerns remain unaddressed.

Chea framed his remarks as a call for accountability rather than party politics, saying the presumption of innocence must be preserved while evidence is pursued wherever it leads. He stressed that no institution should be shielded from scrutiny and said an independent process would help establish the facts and protect the integrity of the investigation.

The comments, reported by The Liberian Investigator and distributed by AllAfrica, come amid wider public concern in Liberia over drug trafficking and the credibility of law enforcement responses. The piece did not report any final findings in the probe.