At-risk or deprived youths are protesting in Paynesville, authorities’s consideration to their plight.
By Stephen G. Fellajuah
Paynesville, Liberia; August 22, 2025 – A whole bunch of deprived youth, generally referred to right here as zogoes, protest in Paynesville, outdoors Monrovia, demanding pressing authorities intervention to handle drug habit and assist their rehabilitation.
The protest started in King Grey neighborhood, a identified drug hotspot, and proceeded to the Samuel Ok. Doe (SKD) Sports activities Advanced in Paynesvile.
The protesters, a lot of whom are victims of substance abuse, poverty, and social neglect, chanted slogans reminiscent of “No extra medication”, carrying placards with determined appeals for assist. Some placards learn, “We’re dying from medication. I’m a sufferer, too. Authorities, please intervene. Rehabilitation is a should.”
Their demonstration got here amid rising frustration over the federal government’s unfulfilled guarantees to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society.
One protester lamented: “We’re bored with medication. We voted for these folks, and so they promised to rehabilitate us and reunite us with our households. However the one outcomes we get from them is to beat on us and take us to jail.”
The protest adopted a current raid by the Liberia Nationwide Police (LNP) Assist Unit on the King Grey Graveyard. In the course of the operation, dozens of zogoes and suspected drug sellers had been arrested. Shockingly, police and a few unidentified people had been seen forcibly chopping the hair of each female and male detainees. The motive behind this act stays unclear, however has drawn public outrage.
In response to the protest, a consultant from the Ministry of Youth and Sports activities addressed the demonstrators, acknowledging the severity of the drug disaster throughout the nation, revealing that over 100,000 younger folks in Liberia are affected by drug habit.
“That is the time to come back to your facet. The difficulty of medication is affecting each cloth of the nation,” the official stated.
“On the Ministry of Youth and Sports activities, we inherited a piece plan that acknowledges this disaster. We’re dedicated to implementing it and reaching out to victims, who’re prepared to be rehabilitated”, he assured.
The protest additionally happens within the broader context of escalating nationwide efforts to fight drug abuse. Just lately, residents of Saye City and twelfth Road in Sinkor, Monrovia took issues into their very own palms by destroying native ghettos and chasing away alleged drug customers with sticks and different objects.
The Liberian authorities, whereas acknowledging the spirit behind these actions, has urged neighborhood members to coordinate lawfully with the Joint Safety of Liberia to keep away from human rights abuses.
This rising public momentum in opposition to drug abuse follows the “Say No to Medication” marketing campaign march on August 7, 2025, when a whole bunch gathered on the Capitol Constructing and demanded swift authorities motion. The very subsequent day, President Joseph Boakai unveiled a brand new set of anti-drug insurance policies, urging residents to report drug-related actions on to the Liberia Drug Enforcement Company (LDEA).
The protest by zogoes in Paynesville alerts a robust shift that Liberia’s most weak youth are actually taking a public stand, not solely in opposition to medication however for their very own rehabilitation and dignity.
Their plea is obvious: Liberia’s struggle in opposition to medication should embody, not ignore, victims. Structured rehabilitation, humane policing, and long-term social assist will probably be important if the nation is to interrupt the cycle of habit, poverty, and marginalization. Modifying by Jonathan Browne
