Francois Eugene Massaquoi (died 16 April 2001) was a Liberian warlord and politician. Massaquoi led the Lofa Defense Force during the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...

, and later became a government minister. He died in 2001 under mysterious circumstances.

Youth in the US

Massaquoi belonged to the

Loma people The Loma people, sometimes called Loghoma, Looma, Lorma or Toma, are a West African ethnic group living primarily in mountainous, sparsely populated regions near the border between Guinea and Liberia. Their population was estimated at 330,000 in ...

. Arriving in the United States in 1965, he studied economics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

.
Access, Vol. 1
'. U.S. Office of Minority Business Enterprise., 1976. pp. 11–12 In 1960s the discothèque The Church (later renamed 'Sanctuary' for administrative reasons) opened in

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

in the building that today houses the

Westside Theatre The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway performance space at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs Theatre, which ...

, with a concept based on stark irreligous themes created by Massaquoi. Massaquoi and his wife Carolyn ran a food importation business in New York in the 1970s. Back in Liberia he worked as a civil servant during the

William Tolbert William Richard Tolbert Jr. (13 May 1913 – 12 April 1980) was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until his assassination in 1980. Tolbert was an Americo-Liberian and trained as a civil servant before en ...

and

Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951 – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician and military officer who served as the 21st President of Liberia from 1986 to 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 ...

governments.

Civil war

He founded the LDF militia in 1991. During the First Liberian Civil War, Massaquoi's LDF fought against the forces of

ULIMO The United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was a pro-government militia that participated in the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996). ULIMO was formed in May 1991 by Krahn and Mandingo refugees and soldiers who had fough ...

over control of

Lofa County Lofa is a county in the northernmost portion of Liberia. One of 15 counties that constitute the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has nine districts. Voinjama serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring . A ...

. In December 1994 Massaquoi was one of the signatories of the Accra Clarification Agreement, a peace agreement that was never implemented. Likewise he signed the Abuja I Accord in August 1995, which allowed for the entry of LDF into the government. Massaquoi was named Minister of Youth and Sports in the Liberia National Transitional Government from September 1995 to August 1997.Ichiro Mashima
リベリア内戦史資料(1989～1997)
/ref> In December 1996 a group of LDF soldiers arrived in Monrovia and physically assaulted Massaquoi, accusing him of not providing support for his former fighters. During the

1997 Liberian general election General elections were held in Liberia on 19 July 1997 as part of the 1996 peace agreement ending the First Liberian Civil War. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate were up for election. Voter turnou ...

Massaquoi belonged to the

National Democratic Party of Liberia The National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) was a political party in Liberia. The NDPL was formed in August 1984 by supporters of Samuel Doe, who came to power in the 1980 coup d'état. The party contested the 1985 general election with ...

. After the election he was again named Minister of Youth and Sports.

Death

Massaquoi died on April 16, 2001. Reportedly, during a visit to

Voinjama Voinjama is a small city that serves as the capital of Lofa County, Liberia and is located in the hilly, far northern part of the country near the Guinean border. As of the 2008 national census, the population stood at 26,594. Before the Liberia ...

Massaquoi's helicopter came under gunfire. Massaquoi died later at hospital in

Gbarnga Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia. Cuttington College, a private, Episcopal-affilia ...

after arrival there. President Charles Taylor announced the creation of a commission to investigate the circumstances of Massaquoi's death, but the announcement was met with skepticism in Liberia at the time.''The Perspective''.
Questions Mount Over "Probe" in Massaquoi's Death
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massaquoi, Francois 2001 deaths Youth and sports ministers of Liberia Liberian rebels New York University alumni 20th-century Liberian politicians 21st-century Liberian politicians