Jlatoh Nicholas Podier, Jr. (died 1 July 1988) was a

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

n soldier and government official in the 1980s. He was one of the members of the group of soldiers that overthrew the country's government on 12 April 1980. When the soldiers formed themselves into the

People's Redemption Council The People's Redemption Council (PRC) was a military junta that ruled Liberia from 1980 to 1984. It was established after the 1980 Liberian coup d'état wherein Samuel Doe seized power on 12 April 1980. The Council, with Doe as its chairman, p ...

in order to govern the country, he became the co-chairman of the council and thus the country's Vice Head of State. In the aftermath of the government's overthrow, he was proclaimed a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, although his precise title is unclear; some sources have called him a brigadier general and others a major general. He died violently in the wake of what Liberian president and former PRC chairman Samuel K. Doe called an attempted

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

. Doe's government announced that Podier had died in a gun battle on one of the country's borders, although other sources questioned Doe's claims and suggested that he had been tortured to death in one of Doe's attempts to consolidate his power.Shepherd, George W., Jr., et al.
Africa Rights Monitor
. ''

Africa Today ''Africa Today'' is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal with articles about contemporary Africa. It was founded in 1954 and is published quarterly by the Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press ...

'' 35.3/4 (1988): 83-95.

References

Year of birth missing 1988 deaths People's Redemption Council Place of birth missing 1980s murders in Liberia Liberian murder victims People murdered in Liberia {{Liberia-bio-stub