The militia units that emerged during the Liberian civil war were often led by people with little military experience and their idea of war came from American action movies. Charles Taylor was in charge in the capital, but the rest of the country was split between different militia units.
The Liberian Civil War was fought by child soldiers who had witnessed trauma from an early age and adopted noms de guerre like General Butt Naked as adults. The fighting was likely stunting their development and memories from before the war were scarce.