Liberia Shut Down borders ahead of elections

Oct 11, 2011 – Hours to the conduct of Liberia’s presidential and legislative elections, the Liberian Government announced the closure of the country’s land borders.
Both elections are scheduled to hold on October 11, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Colonel Chris Massaquoi, Immigration Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalisation, made the announcement, on Monday in Monrovia, on Liberia State Television (LTV).

He said: “Let us make this very clear. We have not done this to instil fear in any citizen.

“There is every reason for us to institute those measures to protect our territorial borders and our citizens in order to avoid any disruption during the electoral exercise.

“Stringent security inspections will be carried out at all inland borders during the election period.”

Massaquoi said the closure of the borders was necessitated by the utterances of some politicians on the likelihood of distractions from neighbouring countries.
Liberia shares an extensive, porous and volatile border with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.

The United Nations Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (ONUCI) and the UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL) have been working together to improve security around the border. Daily Times