Around 100 people, most of them young motorcycle taxi operators, have been arrested following a violent protest on Monday in the central Liberian rubber-growing town of Weala, police spokesman Moses Carter has told the BBC.

The riot - which led to two police stations, a magistrate’s court and a vehicle being set alight - was over the suspected murder of a motorcyclist whose body was found in a nearby bush on 7 March, he said.

Police have so far not made any arrests over the death of the motorcyclist, but were searching for a man whose ID card was found near the spot where the body was discovered, Mr Carter added.

The angry motorcyclists made the town - which had only 25 police officers - “ungovernable”, he said.

The protesters barricaded roads with burning tyres, and there were also reports of looting.

Police reinforcements were sent from the capital, Monrovia, and those arrested have been brought to the city, Mr Carter said.

Weala is situated in Margibi County where the world’s largest rubber plantation, US-owned Firestone Rubber Company, is situated.

It is also located on the main highway leading to the borders with Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

Under Liberian law, the authorities have 48 hours to charge and bring to court those arrested.