Monrovia –

ith reports that some big names are surfacing in the corridors of security investigation of his killing, the body of slain Belgian Plantation Manager of the Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC), Bruno Michiels is expected to be flown to Belgium today after a brief funeral ceremony at the Samuel A. Stryker Funeral Parlor in Sinkor, Monrovia.

Supporting Documents: LAC FILES

UNMIL chief Allan Doss and UNMIL officials. UNMIL has delployed forces to the LAC area in the aftermath of Belgian expatriate Bruno Michiel killing.

A circular released by LAC to the media today, the remains of the late LAC Plantation Manager who was killed by unknown persons in Bassa while conducting a survey for a US$22 million expansion project the company signed with the Government of Liberia, will be laid out at the Stryker Funeral Chapel for public viewing and thereafter taken to the Roberts International Airport (RIA), from where it will be flown back to Belgium for the appropriate funeral rites and interment.

Controversy follows killing

The killing of Mr. Michiel has stirred a controversy and has generated heated debate in Monrovia and other parts of Liberia. His killing is one of the acts of insecurity that plague the postwar country.  

Michiel, 36, joined the LAC family in 2001 from a sisterly company of LAC in the Ivory Coast. Before then, the late Michiel who held a Masters Degree in Agronomy from one of the best Agriculture University in Belgium lived in Benin where he was head of the Department of Agronomy at the University of Cotonou.

A spokesperson of LAC hinted that the late Bruno Michiel was highly committed, and his commitment has increased LAC plantation from 28,000 acres to 36,000 acres which is the present size of the plantation.  

Meanwhile, reports emanating from Grand Bassa have indicated that 20 persons have already been arrested in connection with the killing of the Belgian manager of LAC and the simultaneous hijacking of vehicles carrying US$150, 000 intended for paying of  LAC’s employees.

Accordingly, it is reported that individuals arrested in connection with the killing of Mr. Bruno Michiel were expected to appear in court yesterday on murder charges. Police source hinted to FrontPageAfrica correspondence in Monrovia that some prominent sons of Grand Bassa have been apprehended. However, our source who said the police will make an official statement at a later date when their complicity is fully established, declined to name them.

'Politicians filtering probe'

However, the Principal of the Zono Public School in Grand Bassa County, Isaac Crusoe, was one of the first arrests made in connection with the killing of Mr. Bruno Michiel. Crusoe was reportedly the ring leader who had organized a meeting of residents to resist the expansion of LAC in the area.  

Our sources have also said some senior politicians names have been filtering in the corridor of the police investigation. “It is too soon to name anyone, because names that are surfacing now may, or may not be correct,” our source hinted. 

Grand Bassa County Junior Senator Nathaniel Innis, Liberty Party, is urging the Unity-Party-led government not to be selective in the ongoing investigation into the murder of the Belgian manager of the Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC), Michel Bruno.

Speaking to FrontPageAfrica Tuesday, Mr. Innis said it was unfortunate that a man who was supposed to have been the next general manager of LAC was shot while conducting a survey for the expansion of the company’s plantation. 

The late Bruno Michel

“I don’t understand why this man who should be the next general manager of LAC was killed during the survey. That is to say the shot that killed him came from behind him from the plantation. Who could have been at the plantation to shoot at the manager? The investigation should also pursue the matter from that end as well.”

He said the Justice Ministry should also investigate those whose names may surface from the company during the investigation. He said he has information that the gunshot that killed Bruno during the survey came from the plantation and not from the community.

Justice Minister Philip A. Z. Banks made similar comments Monday. “The investigation is not only to apprehend perpetrators of the LAC murder, but the investigation is also to know what is behind it, the motive.”  

The Law and Order minister also commented on whether the killing of LAC manager Bruno was not a result of the exclusion of the community leaders from the agreement signed with LAC for the US$22 million expansion project.  Justice Minister Banks indicated, “The exclusion of the communities is no basis for violence. The judicial system is functioning; courts are opened and any dissatisfied party could take advantage of the courts.”

He however admitted that community people need to be included in the making and signing of agreements that has to do with operations of concessions in their localities. Minister Banks also said the Government was launching an outreach program for the Liberian communities to educate residents on their involvement in any such development initiatives and agreements, and to tell them what to do if they are dissatisfied instead of resorting to violence.

UNMIL deployed