Two UN Police Officers have been commended by their commanding officers as well as Liberian local government authorities for courageously saving a young Liberian woman from a possibly fatal attack by an angry mob in Pleebo, Maryland Country, early last January.

UN Police Officers Katarina Paulsson and Faruque Hossain led a rescue team of five Liberia National Police Officers to the home of the 29-year-old woman, whose name is withheld to protect her identity.

The young woman was trapped in her house as throngs of Pleebo residents gathered outside threatening to kill her.  Police later learned that the residents’ ire was whipped up by the victim’s own sister and brother-in-law. They had taken the victim to see a traditional soothsayer who accused her of killing their cousin using witchcraft.  Police said the cousin actually died in an accident while felling a tree on 16 December in Grand Kru.

The rescue incident also demonstrated the courage of LNP officers such as Nelson Wroye and Joshua Bartee, who had first responded to the young woman’s plight and continued to guard the door of the women’s house until extra help arrived.

UN Police Officers Hossain and Paulsson were accompanied in their rescue team by LNP commander Shirley Teah, Officers Oskar Kollie, Solomon Quiah, Fredrick Kyne and Cynthia Smith.

Paulson reported that initially the crowd tried to block their vehicle from reaching the victim’s home. “When we got our vehicle through the crowd, we saw officers Nelson Wroye and Joshua Bartee guarding the door of the house,” she narrated. Four of the Liberia National Police officers on her team got out of the vehicle and cleared the way so the victim could get into the car.

Someone in the crowd threw multiple rocks at the UN Police Nissan Patrol, damaging the windshield and the right rear window. As soon as the young woman entered the vehicle the rescue team drove her to safety at Harper Police station.

Once the young woman was out of harm’s way, the LNP Emergency Response Unit moved in and arrested two young men charging them with inciting mob violence. The two are now in detention facing trial. The young woman has since moved to another county.

Both Hossain and Paulsson were awarded certificates of commendation by the Mayor and City Council of Pleebo for “the expedient, gallant, and rapid response during the evacuation and rescue operation.”