1985 Liberian coup attempt

1985 Liberian coup d'état attempt
Date12 November 1985
Location
Monrovia, Liberia
Result Coup attempt failed.
Belligerents
Liberia Liberia Liberia AFL coup plotters
Liberia NPFL
Alleged support:
Libya
Commanders and leaders
Liberia Samuel Doe Liberia Gen. Thomas Quiwonkpa Executed
Strength
Unknown 500-600

The 1985 Liberian coup d'état attempt was staged by General Thomas Quiwonkpa, who had been a leader of the 1980 coup along with President Samuel Doe and later founder of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). On 12 November 1985, one month after elections were held, Quiwonkpa, supported by about two dozen heavily armed men, covertly entered Liberia through Sierra Leone, and launched a coup against Doe. The coup resulted in a disastrous failure and Quiwonkpa was captured and on November 15 was killed and mutilated by Krahn soldiers loyal to Doe,[1] who reportedly ate parts of his body.[2]

Samuel Doe also announced in a radio and television broadcast that anyone found on the streets after a 6 p.m. curfew would be considered a rebel and executed immediately.

  1. ^ Ellis, Stephen (2002). The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Roots of an African Civil War. C. Hurst & Co. p. 146. ISBN 1-85065-417-4.
  2. ^ Dickovick, J. Tyler (2008). The World Today Series: Africa 2012. Lanham, Maryland: Stryker-Post Publications. ISBN 978-1-61048-881-5.