Monrovia- January 19, 2025: Presidential hopeful Matthew Nyanplu has condemned a tribute made by Warlord Senator Thomas Yaya Nimely, describing it as disgraceful. Hon. Nyanplu stated that Nimely’s remarks serve as a painful reminder of the ongoing suffering experienced by victims of the civil wars, even 24 years later, and highlighted the lack of justice for these individuals.

“SHUT UP NIMELY YAYA AND DO SO NOW!” he said.

“WE CONDEMN, IN THE STRONGEST TERMS, MODEL WARLORD THOMAS YAYA NIMELY’S PERVERSE ANTI-JUSTICE SPEECH AT THE FUNERAL OF LATE SENATOR PRINCE Y. JOHNSON (peace unto his ashes)

Mr Thomas Yaya Nimely: our nation will not be cowered by your persistent fearmongering that accountability for war crimes will destabilize our country. Wars have laws!

Your uncouth threat to the peace and stability of our country by consistently and persistently railing against the establishment of War Crimes Court for Liberia is a disgraceful conduct.

You are a warlord who thought and believed that Liberia will never be at peace, and that there would never come a day for you and your former fighters, pillagers and people molesters to account for your crimes against our Liberian nation-state and its people.

Today, you seized the podium at late Senator Johnson’s funeral to rail against the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia and you did say the singular fear of the late Nimba Senator was a war crimes court for Liberia. The fact that the current administration has gone ahead to lay the ground works for that court amounted to a betrayal of the late Senator. How disgraceful!

You continue to brazenly assert that no one will prosecute any war criminal in Liberia and that there are about 106,000 former combatants cut across our nation and across the security forces who would resist the prosecution of alleged war criminals like you, Thomas Yaya Nimely. You must be really living in a dream land. There are more than 5,000,000 Liberians. Let’s do the math and see.

Our nation is strong and will continue to thrive. Vain and veiled threats of destabilization will not cower us. 1000 years from today, justice will and MUST be served to the victims of the Liberian civil war, myself a victim. Alleged war criminals like you must be prosecuted vigorously.

Mr Yaya Nimely, it is a national failure that our republic has not yet prosecuted you under our treason laws. You and your MODEL fighters took up arms against a constitutionally elected Government. Charles Taylor, whom you sought to depose, was an elected President. Taking up arms to depose him was a criminal conduct. We know this.

That conduct alone warrants you a criminal label of the highest order. You do not bear the rectitude to rail against the justice that our country sorely deserves.

Like you, Sekou Damate Conneh, the former leader of LURD, took up arms against constituted authority. His conduct, like yours, is treason. And you both should even be in the dock now answering to your illegal conduct against our nation and people.

The conduct of war follows the laws of war. When you violate the laws of wars, you cannot threaten that accountability against you will destabilize the nation so we should let you go free. The Liberian nation must respect and uphold its laws including against people like you, who so callously and brazenly took up arms and terrorized unarmed civilians during your campaigns in the early 2000s.

Your forces, MODEL, while I lived in Southeast, pillaged, raped and committed murder. Your forces terrorized peaceful and unarmed civilians. We have victims who are ready and willing to testify against your forces in the war crimes court that will be established, no matter how long that takes.

The laws of war prohibit combat action against civilians, their properties, their dwelling, their society and their culture and including any action against combatants who have surrendered or have become prisoners of war.

Yaya Nimely, your fighters killed peaceful civilians in the southeast. They were lords unto themselves. I saw how they disrobed and disgraced my father and other elders in our hometown in Topoh, Barclayville City, Grand Kru County. How they declared war on our people’s cattle. Our people are ready to testify.

A court is an independent and impartial forum that hears before it condemns. If you believe that your conduct in the early 2000s was lawful, stay put. Face the court when it comes and defend yourself. A court does not mean that you are guilty as charged.

Our nation must be spared of your continuous ranting and must be focused on delivering justice to the victims of the civil war. This is how we deter any such future conduct. Not by letting go, but by punishing those who violated the laws of war when they prosecuted their campaigns, including you.

Wars do have laws, and violators do not determine what punishment should befall them. You must be quiet and stop this continuous national disgrace!

Each time you speak, Mr Yaya Nimely, the victims of the crimes of your MODEL rebel group are incensed! Your voice adds to our pain. You should shut up and do so now!” he concluded.