04/02/2026
A peep through the pages of history, featuring Taylor's #1 killer and hitman - "50"
Chief killer Benjamin Yeaten, widely known by his radio call sign "50," was a feared Liberian militia leader and the Director of the Special Security Service (SSS) under President Charles Taylor.
As one of Taylor's most trusted confidants, he held massive influence, effectively commanding all of Taylor's armed forces and overseeing front-line operations against rebel groups.
On October 1, 2003, two weeks for the Interim Government to be inducted, General Benjamin Yeaten sneaked out of Liberia amidst mounting calls for his trial in connection with the murder of two deputy ministers, John Yormie and Isaac Vaye, who were Taylor's Deputy Ministers of National Security and Public Service in June.
But Liberian Defense Minister, then, Daniel Chea however told reporters that Yeaten left the country with the permission of Interim President Moses Blah to attend to family matters in Ghana, while Blah was due to hand over to a two-year Transitional Government led by businessman, Gyude Bryant on 14 October 2003.
When Asked whether Yeaten would return to Liberia, Chea said: "He is not a fugitive and has not been charged with any crime. If he does not return, that is his prerogative."
Families of John Yormie and Isaac Vaye who went missing accused General Yeaten of murdering the two Ministers for their alleged involvement in a failed coup against Taylor.
At the time of the alleged coup, Taylor was in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, attending the 4 June opening of the Liberian peace talks.
Taylor confirmed there had been a coup attempt against him but blamed his vice president Moses Blah, his then successor, for leading it, forcing Blah to resign and placing him under house arrest for two weeks, before Taylor reinstated him, and shortly after, the two Ministers disappeared.
Security sources revealed that General Yeaten was seen dressed in an oversize dark blue coat and thick dark glasses at Liberia's Roberts International airport before he boarded a commercial flight with his son.
Both Yormie and Vaye were followers of late warlord and Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, who was then in exile in Nigeria.
Besides being linked to Yormie and Vaye's murder, General Yeaten was accused as a principal suspect in the brutal murder of opposition leader Samuel Saye Dokie along with his family member in December 1997, five months into Taylor's presidency.
As an army commander in the Taylor's regime, General Yeaten was believed to have been the regime's hit man. In an interview with reporters in August 2003, he however said he was a disciplined officer: "My soldiers know that if you r**e or kill, we execute you. I have executed over 10 so far - in front of the public."
Taylor was forced by international pressure to resign and leave Liberia for exile in Nigeria on 11 August. General Yeaten was retained by Blah as army commander. Human rights organisations had called for all those suspected of committing crimes in Liberia during Taylor's presidency, to be brought to book. Taylor himself was indicted by a special court in neighbouring Sierra Leone and has been in jail for 20 years for war crimes committed while supporting rebels who fought a brutal war in neighboring Sierra Leone between 1991-2001.
