A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

One day some men from the LPC came to my house looking for my father,
who worked for the government. The men, none of whom were wearing
uniforms or carrying guns, raped my mother and sister, murdered my father
in front of me, and hurt everyone in my family. Then they took me and my
mother away from our house, and made us tote loads for them for two hours
until we reached Fishtown. On the road to Fishtown, the rebels who were
carrying me slashed a knife into my leg when I asked where they were taking
me. To this day, I have a permanent scar on my leg, and cannot work for
money because I can’t stand for longer than five minutes. 357
Fighting, albeit at a lower intensity, continued. By August 1994, the Washington Post reported, “[w]
hile organized armed confrontation has been relatively light, there is no end in sight to the war...” 358
akoSomBo agreement: 1994
On September 12, 1994, three warring factions, the NPFL, ULIMO-K, and AFL, signed the
Akosombo Agreement. The accord granted Taylor considerable dispensations, including a seat on the
five-person Council of State, 359 much to the displeasure of the Nigerian government. 360 Subsequently,
ECOMOG attacked Gbarnga in September 1994. Civilians in Gbarnga found themselves in the midst
of fighting and bombings. One statement giver summarized his experience and the long-term injuries
he and his child sustained:
During the fighting in Gbarnga in 1994, a rocket exploded in our house
resulting in the near shattering of my left leg and the dislocation of my hip
bone. I was in a coma when I was taken to the hospital in Abidjan. I stayed
at Cocody Hospital in Abidjan for a year and a half. My left leg is presently
shorter than my right leg, and I used to walk with crutches occasionally
because they cause my left side to pain when I use them for a whole day from
place to place. My daughter was also hit the same day. Some of the rocket’s
particles penetrated her chest; she underwent surgery to have the particles
removed. Today, she continues to live in pain, and drinks quite often in a day
due to perpetual heart burn. I too live in perpetual pain. 361
The attack, although unsuccessful, nevertheless demonstrated that Nigeria would not passively accept
Taylor’s ascent to power. 362
Various factors, including politico-historical roots, ethnic divisions, and ECOMOG’s maneuvering
among the armed groups, continued to splinter the factions. 363 Alliances between ECOMOG and other
factions proved unstable, leading to severances and attacks between factions and the peacekeeping
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