A man who said he witnessed the murder of eight miners at Lindo Creek and wants justice but is very fearful for his life, has been asking residents of some Berbice River communities to help him get a public hearing with the President.
Reports had previously surfaced that a 9th man had escaped the slaughter that day.
The residents to whom the man has spoken said he has abandoned his home out of fear and currently moves from place to place as he has no fixed place of abode. They said he has been saying the same thing since last June soon after the incident occurred and that back then he had even gone to the police in the area, who did not believe him and ran him off warning him not to repeat what he was saying to anyone.
According to the residents, who are also still fearful, the man said he wanted to be able to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo in a public setting to tell his story, so that “if they kill me there the world know.”
According to several residents who have had contact with the man, his account of what occurred at Lindo Creek in early June 2008, has been and continues to be consistent. They said he placed the murders as having occurred on June 4.
The residents said he told them that on the evening of June 4, he was at Leonard Arokium’s camp at Lindo Creek with eight other men. He related to them that he had gone off into the bushes “to ease his bowels” when he heard a hail of gunshots. He approached cautiously and from a safe distance, saw a group of approximately five men standing guard while a few others seemed to be questioning the miners as they beat them with sledgehammers; he could hear them hollering, he told the residents.
After a while, the men drenched the camp and the miners with fuel and then lit the camp and its occupants afire, he told the residents. He also claimed, they said, that the men stayed there, throwing more fuel whenever the flames began to quell.
The man told the residents that the killers then left the area by boat after they were satisfied that the camp and the campers were completely burnt. He recounted to them that while he looked on he trembled with fear at the thought that he might have been caught and killed.
After the men left, he crept deeper into the forested area where he spent several days walking before coming upon an unknown community. From there, he told residents, he crossed the river and eventually found himself on the Kwakwani –Ituni trail, where he later joined a bus to Linden.
The man said that after a few days he went to Kwakwani and attempted to relate his story to the police there but was told that he was making up the story and must leave the area and not tell it any other person or “he gon get waste,” the residents said.
Commissioner of Police Henry Greene had told reporters in July last year, that an eyewitness had come forward on July 3, and given investigators a detailed account of what transpired at the camp. Greene had said that the identity of the witness could not be disclosed at that time.
According to Greene, “The eyewitness has said that the men were attacked by ‘Fine Man’ and his gang. They went there at night. Basically, they attacked the men. They tied them up, they cooked, etcetera, and then the next night they were shot and killed.”
He added that the eyewitness related that, after the shooting, one of the victims was still alive, and he was beaten with a hammer until he succumbed.
“That is what we have. We have how they arrived there, we have all the details. That is all I can give you for now,” Greene had said.
Shortly after samples were taken from the charred remains of the miners for DNA testing in Jamaica, in late July last year, Arokium had told Stabroek News that he was anxiously awaiting their return, since the results could tell a lot more about the massacre, for example, if remains were found that did not belong to the any of the eight men who were thought to have died at Camp Lindo. He had hinted that a ninth man could possibly have been at the site.
The camp owner, who lost his son Dax Arokium and his brother Cecil Arokium in the attack, said he was also keen on finding out which of the members of the camp sustained the sledgehammer skull wounds as it would indicate who resisted the attackers. The other miners in the camp were Clifton Wong, Nigel Torres, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes, Bonny Harry and Lancelot Lee. To date, only one miner has been positively identified by DNA and his identity has not been made public.
Meanwhile, a number of Berbice River residents who have knowledge of the hijacking of a bus en-route to Linden said the now deceased Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, who the police said was responsible for the murders, was among the gang who hijacked the bus. They said the gang led the bus off the usual trail, relieved the passengers and driver of their cell phones, jewellery and cash. “Fineman tell we he ain’t gon kill we, cause he want we fuh get de message to de President that he ain’t responsible fuh de Lindo Creek murder.”
Others recounted the incident involving the capture of one of the wanted men along the trail. They said that a truck which was heading to Linden had stumbled on the man who was very hungry and weak. “De driver and de other men on the truck recognized that he was one ah dem who was wanted. Dey give him something fuh eat and tell he dey couldn’t carry him.”
That truck driver, the residents said, then tipped off the police who formed a road block, stopped the next truck which was heading out of the area and found the wanted man on board.
Another resident said there were several unanswered questions surrounding the Lindo Creek incident. “We living here for so long and is the first time this community deh so tense. The only person we can trust to talk to is God. However we hope and pray that very soon the relevant authorities would do a true and proper investigation and get the truth of this whole thing.”
Many residents who did farming and logging have abandoned these activities and are still fearful to return to the areas. According to them, the incident has resulted in the breaking up of many families since the men have left in search of employment in other locations.
One woman, very emotionally, said, “Dis thing mess up me whole life. I gat 4 children, none ah dem ain’t guh to school fuh de term cause meh husband use to work de farm up de river and he get frightened and go away and me ain’t see he back since.” According to the woman on several occasions her husband was beaten in the head and about the body by members of the joint services, who accused him of feeding the wanted gang and having information on their whereabouts.
She said her husband filed several reports, but got no justice resulting in him leaving the area.
Since the incidents in the area, several persons have migrated, fearful for the safety of themselves and their families.
