MONROVIA: The Presidential elite security force, Executive Protection Service (EPS), has disclosed that investigation is ongoing concerning claims that the vehicle of former Vice President, Madam Jewel Howard Taylor, was recently attacked.
According to the EPS statement, the investigation which is into allegation of attack of former Vice President, Jewel Howard-Taylor’s vehicle, has gathered no evidence, so far, to prove that the former Vice President was attacked by an unknown assailant in the Duport Road area as reported.
The EPS statement followed assertion by the former Vice President that while traveling through the Duport Road Community, her vehicle was subjected to a targeted attack, resulting in the destruction of the car’s rear windshield.
In a statement issued following the incident, the ex-VP said, Saturday’s attack marks the escalation in the challenges facing her, amid repeated concerns about her security to the current administration of President Joseph Boakai.
“This assault marks escalation in the challenges facing former Vice President Howard-Taylor, who has repeatedly expressed concerns about her security to the current administration. Despite her numerous requests for enhanced protection from the Executive Protection Service, her appeals have remained largely unaddressed. This incident is not only a direct threat to her personal safety but also a disturbing indication of the broader security challenges ordinary citizens in Liberia face daily,” the former VP said in the statement said.
But, the EPS said on Tuesday that its Preliminary investigation conducted was unable to substantiate the claim of the targeted attack as was reported in the media.
“The investigation revealed that former Vice President Jewel Taylor was riding in a two-vehicle convoy when a sound came from one of the vehicle’s back windshields, causing minor damage,” the EPS disclosed.
EPS: “There was no showing that a vehicle crashed into the former VP’s convoy as is being insinuated in the media. The area of the alleged incident was immediately searched and pedestrians and others in the neighborhood were interviewed as no one testified to seeing anyone throwing projectiles at the former VP’s vehicle.”
According to the EPS, the incident is still being investigated and from the investigation so far, there is a strong possibility that gravel from under the tyre of another moving vehicle in the opposite lane may have hit the rear windshield of the vehicle.
However, the EPS said, this hypothesis is inconclusive, but there is no evidence that the former Vice President was being attacked as reported.
The Executive Protection Service is mandated to provide protection services to the President, Vice President, their family members, and other Very Important Persons (VIPs).
“The EPS is interested in establishing the facts and circumstances regarding threats related incidents and will not be drawn into political spin and unfounded allegations of targeted attacks to draw public attention and sympathy,” the EPS statement averred.
The EPS added that it is currently providing services to the former vice president with almost half a dozen well-trained agents and two police officers and it does not take lightly the security of its “protectees.”
