Activist set to return home

ALOYSIUS TOE fled war ravaged Liberia two months ago, escaping prison as rebel shells rained down and then spending four days on the open ocean in a canoe.

The activist, whose wife and children remain in the west African country, returns next week to a life still full of danger but less so with the exit of Charles Taylor, the most recent of a succession of warlords who have seized power in the country and then been deposed.

Aloysius is ready to return to his job as head of the Liberian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders after some rest and recuperation in Ireland. He is a classic example of the type of person who will benefit from the introduction of short term visas for people at risk.

He was imprisoned last October for voicing his opposition to Taylor. He was charged with treason. On July 6, as rebels made an aborted attempt to seize the capital, the prison guards fled in the face of the mortar shells. The prisoners walked out.

“I was still a wanted man so I escaped from the country. I had purchased food for two days. Unfortunately, we ran out of petrol on open sea so we had to rely on the force of the wind so it took an additional two days without food and water,” Aloysius revealed.

But survival is a condition he has lived with since civil war first broke out in the country 13 years ago.

“I have gone two months at times with just hot water and sugar. After arriving at the Ivory Coast, it took a further four days to reach Ghana and, with Frontline’s help, to Ireland.