Liberia, July 18 -- Armed officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) have surrounded the residence of STAND Chairman Mulbah K. Morlu Jr. in Congo Town in what appears to be an effort to arrest him following a police order for him to surrender a firearm allegedly in his possession.

The development comes hours after Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman, through a statement issued by the LNP on Friday, declared Morlu "armed and dangerous" and ordered him to immediately turn over a firearm that authorities say was seized from a police officer during Friday's anti-drug protest in Monrovia.

Morlu, Chairman of the Solidarity and Trust for a New Day (STAND), was the lead organizer of the July 17 protest, which called on the government to...