Virtually no sign of IDPs in lower Lofa, aid workers say

Aid workers returning from lower Lofa County in Liberia said on Thursday that the situation was calm and there was virtually no sign of internally displaced people, contrary to reports that had been circulating recently in the capital, Monrovia.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) traveled to the towns of Komgbo, Tarvey and Bambia in lower Lofa on Wednesday to assess the situation, said Robert Parker, the head of mission of MSF in Monrovia. “It was very calm, very quiet,” Parker told IRIN. “Even at the checkpoints; some were wide open.”

He said the team found only nine displaced people but he was told that many were hiding in the bush in upper Lofa until the situation was safe enough for them to return home. The situation in upper Lofa is still unclear. MSF found 73 IDPs around the town of Zorzor two weeks ago and plans another assessment mission to that region.

News reports quoting officials of Kolahun District say the humanitarian situation is worsening in upper Lofa as government troops battle dissident forces for control of the town of Voinjama, said to be in rebel hands. A number of soldiers are being treated in Monrovia’s state hospital, Liberian news organisations have quoted government officials as saying.

MSF pulled its teams out of Lofa county in July because of insecurity. The government has said its forces are battling dissident troops that are based in Guinea, which the Guinean government denies.