BY: SHALLON S. GONLOR / shallonsgonlor@gmail.com
TAPPITA-SACLEPEA – Tears roll in on Wednesday afternoon precisely at 3:30 p.m. across Nimba County, leaving some families shattered as a result of a deadly motorcycle crash along the Tappita–Saclepea highway near Loyee Creek in District #7, Nimba County that claimed multiple lives,
The devastating road accident resulted in the deaths of four individuals – including a police officer, a 14-year-old rape survivor, a rape suspect, and a community watch member. Every year the lives of approximately 1000 or more people are cut short as a result of a road traffic accident, according to Liberia’s Traffic accident deaths data.
The fatal incident occurred as the group was en route to the Sexual Offenses Division Court in Sanniquellie for court proceedings. All four victims died at the scene. According to eyewitness accounts, the police officer, Ephraim S. Gbuah, accompanied by a member of the community watch forum, was escorting rape suspect, Lamine Sanoe when their motorcycle skidded and fell into a creek near Loyee Town.
Also present on the bike was 14-year-old Blessings Thomas, the alleged survivor and key witness in the case. The accident caused severe injuries to all four individuals, with the rape suspect found handcuffed facedown in the water and the police officer suffering significant facial wounds.
The rape suspect, a 38-year-old from River Cess County, had earlier resisted being taken to Sanniquellie for further investigation. Ephrian Bundeah, an officer with the Liberia National Police’s Police Support Unit (PSU), had been assigned to escort the suspect. Junior Walkbeah, a member of the Community Watch Forum, was responsible for transporting them on a motorcycle due to the lack of police vehicles.
This tragic incident shocked the community of Tappita in central Nimba, occurring during the special prayer holiday on July 30, 2025, around 3 pm. Tappita is located approximately 138 kilometers from Sanniquellie, and cases requiring transportation to the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court are usually transferred there via Ganta.
Motorcycles are often favored as a cost-effective means of transportation due to their speed and flexibility, particularly for transferring suspects to higher courts or prisons. In these circumstances, the financial burden usually falls on the victim’s family, making it challenging to afford alternative modes of transport, especially for individual transfers.
Local authorities and residents say the crash reflects a deeper, systemic problem within Nimba County’s justice system. Most police stations and magisterial courts lack basic logistics, including functioning vehicles, which delays judicial processes and puts lives at risk.
The Nimba Police Detachment, under the leadership of Commander APC Larmine Mendin, confirmed the tragic incident, stating that one officer had been killed.
The cause of the accident remains unclear, though some eyewitnesses speculate that the suspect’s actions may have contributed to the loss of control and subsequent crash over the bridge into the water.
Concerns have been raised about the speeding and reckless driving behavior along the Saclepea-Tappita road in recent months following the alpha pavement completion, leading to numerous accidents and fatalities. This incident highlights ongoing concerns regarding road safety in the region, as residents call for increased awareness and measures to prevent such tragic occurrences in the future. The community mourns the loss and stands in solidarity with the victim’s family during this difficult time.
Road Safety in Liberia’s Traffic:
Road safety has become an important issue for Liberia, which has the highest estimated road traffic death rate in the world, with 35.9 fatalities per 100,000 population, and where economic losses from road traffic crashes are estimated to cost as much as 7% of GDP. In October 2018, the Government of Liberia launched the Road Safety Action Plan, a $22.1 million program aimed at preventing deaths and
minimizing crashes, implemented through a National Road Safety Secretariat.
The World Bank supports the country through the Liberia Road Asset Management Project (LIBRAMP) and the Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (SECRAMP). However, these good ideas have not come to reality. There is an urgent need to reduce the number of road traffic deaths and injuries in Liberia. The Government of Liberia should take a decisive approach in exploring
road safety strategies and allocate funding for road safety interventions. Recovering the forces at stake is key, since it has direct implications for the type of policy that should be adopted to reduce the number of crashes due to unsafe driving.
