would not start until 6:00 p.m. During my drive to the office, I noticed several civilian cars on the road. The people on the road appeared to be going about their normal tasks. There were many army vehicles also on the road. I reached the office around 10:00 a.m. Some of my staff members were present. I quickly made a report to my head office and then got immersed in work. By 1:00 p.m., the staff members took permission to leave. I knew that the curfew would not commence until 6:00 p.m. and therefore continued with my work.
At around 3:00 p.m., I left the office and got into the car. My driver eased the car into Broad Street from the parking lot. I was dumbstruck. There was not a single civilian on the road. All the shutters were down. The only movement on the road was speeding military vans and trucks. I was scared. Directly in front of my car was a military van. The back of the van was open and four soldiers were sitting facing me, training their guns directly onto my car. My driver had no choice but to continue the journey. I started sweating and felt that at any moment I would collapse. Lots of unholy thoughts came to my mind. One of the guns from the van in the front could fire off, intentionally or not, which would without doubt, kill me. Any soldier could stop me and arrest me. I could simply be blown away.
Sidi Bah drove the car through Broad Street and turned into Camp Johnson Road where Capitol Hill was situated. Capitol Hill was the seat of the Executive Mansion, the residence and office of the President. The whole area was occupied by heavily armed soldiers. Army vans and gun-mounted trucks were speeding in all directions. There seemed to be no order or pattern. Bah drove the car in between those speeding military vehicles. If my car as much as touched any one of those trucks or vice versa, I knew my driver and I would be arrested instantly. The very thought of the consequences made me dizzy.
The van in front of my car turned off in another direction. Bah drove the car through Tubman Avenue and reached my house. The guard opened the gate and the car stopped at the porch. I bolted into my house and collapsed on the sofa.
Later, I learned from the friends who were in Liberia during the 1980 coup that even though the curfew would officially start at 6:00 p.m., the soldiers would be so inebriated by the afternoon that they lost any sense of time and there was a risk of getting shot and killed. I realized that this must be the reason the roads were deserted but for the presence of the army long before the curfew hour.
A few days later, President Samuel Doe called a town hall meeting of selected individuals including some business executives. I also was an invitee. After a long wait, President Doe strode on to the podium in his military uniform, exuding confidence. He appeared affable. He made a short speech outlining his victory against the rebels, adding a clear warning to anyone who might dare to make another attempt against him. Ending his speech, he walked towards the backstage, but dramatically turned around and returned to the podium. He announced, “I lift the curfew” and abruptly walked away. The lifting of the curfew was a great relief. Gradually, the life limped back to normal.
EPILOGUE: I left Liberia in June 1986 to take up a new posting in Mauritius. Samuel Doe’s reign of terror continued, but civil war broke out in 1989. On 9th September 1990, Samuel Doe paid a visit to the headquarters of the Economic Community of West Africa Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) at the Freeport of Monrovia for a reconciliation meeting arranged by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). There, he was captured by the army of a new rebel leader and warlord, Prince Johnson. Doe was taken to Prince Johnson’s camp, stripped naked, brutally tortured, dismembered and shot dead.
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