Sundaygar Admits Being NPFL Fighter
By Alloycious David
November, 2008
Monrovia - Popular musician Michael Davis alias 'Sundaygar Dearboy' has admitted to his recruitment by the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebels during the Liberian civil crisis.
Sundaygar Dearboy Thursday told a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) public hearings at the Centennial Pavilion that he was forcefully recruited into the NPFL in 1992 while in search of his girlfriend in Grand Bassa County.
He noted that the only training he received was to learn how to shoot an AK-47 rifle assigned to him, adding "I was not trained to be a snapper or a hit man."
The musician said he served as Military Police (MP) with a rank of Colonel and commanded a group of nine fighters assigned in Sue Town, Grand Bassa County. He also worked for the NPFL as a radio operator.
Interestingly, Sundaygar Dearboy said the rank was self declared because during the heyday of the NPFL war fighters with higher ranks humiliated others with lower ranks.
Although, he expressed regret over his association with the NPFL, but said he would have been killed had he not accepted to join the rebel group.
He displayed marks on his back to TRC hearing officer behind closed door which he claimed to have received from torture he received from fighters of the NPFL prior to his forceful recruitment.
Sundaygar Dearboy indicated that he could not escape and that there was nowhere to escape to in answer to a question as to why he served the NPFL for almost four years when he was recruited against his will.
The Liberian musician noted that he was a victim like many Liberians who took up arms against their will.
He denied all the counts including murder of innocent children, rape and torture brought against him by alleged victims who testified earlier in Monrovia and Buchanan City.
Sundaygar admitted that fighters assigned to him committed minor crimes including simple assault, forcefully taking away foods belonging to civilians, for which they were punished.
Laughably, Musician Sundaygar said he never fired the AK-47 assigned to him from the day he was taught how to use it, adding he never engaged in battle during his time with the NPFL.
Sundaygar Dearboy who got disengaged with the NPFL in 1996 said "I never participated in the disarmament process because I never considered myself a combatant so I reintegrated myself."
