Due to a rift with Taylor, Johnson soon formed an NPFL splinter group, the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), which captured, tortured and executed Doe in 1990.

[1][2] Following continued clashes with Taylor and the pro-Doe ULIMO group, the INPFL was disbanded and Johnson was forced into exile in Nigeria in 1992, where he converted to Christianity and reconciled with the Doe family.

Johnson was born in Tapeta, Nimba County, in the east-central interior of the country, and was brought up by an uncle in the capital city of Monrovia.

In 1971, while living in Monrovia, he joined the Liberian National Guard (LNG), which was transformed into the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) in the aftermath of Samuel Doe's 1980 overthrow of President William R.

[6] An internal power struggle resulted in Johnson breaking off from the Taylor-led NPFL and forming the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL).

Despite intervention in the civil war by the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), INPFL forces captured most of Monrovia in the late summer of 1990.

In an attempt by the weak national government to reconstruct Liberian politics, the INPFL was recognised at a conference held in Guinea, where Amos Sawyer was elected president.

He stated his intention to return to politics, though he briefly left Liberia again on 7 April due to death threats he had received from the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group.

[citation needed] In 2008, Johnson stated that he and Charles Taylor had been solicited to assassinate Thomas Sankara, naming Blaise Compaoré as the instigator, with the surety of Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

[15] In the June 2009 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was established as part of the 2003 peace deal, the TRC recommended Johnson's inclusion on a list of 50 people who should be "specifically barred from holding public offices; elected or appointed for a period of thirty (30) years" for "being associated with former warring factions.

"[16] Johnson labelled the recommendation a "joke," noting the absence of several other combatants from the list, and vowed to resist any charges brought as a result of the report.

[22] On 9 December 2021, Johnson was sanctioned by the United States Department of Treasury for alleged political corruption, claiming he would sell votes in elections for financial gains.