Liberia’s police chief Paul Mulbah on Wednesday led riot police in whipping school pupils to break up a peaceful protest in Monrovia, journalists at the scene reported.
They said riot police whipped, kicked and punched the student protesters in front of the education ministry where they had gathered to complain to the minister, Evelyn Kandakai, about a strike by schoolteachers.
Journalists saw many students being arrested and driven away in police jeeps.
On Monday, the students briefly took over the education ministry in Monrovia’s downtown Broad Street area as a mark of protest.
Teachers at government-run schools in Monrovia have been boycotting work since September to demand the payment of nine months’ salary arrears, affecting the studies of more than 20 000 pupils.
State employees are owed several months’ pay in Liberia, which has been wracked by civil war since 1999.
According to experts, the war and UN sanctions have fuelled inflation and caused the unemployment rate to spiral to about 80%. – Sapa-AFP