-Aroaima Trail passenger recalls fearsome hijacking
Nearly two years on, a passenger on a bus that was hijacked on the Aroaima Trail days after the Lindo Creek massacre has recalled the fear of coming face to face with a man who called himself Rondell `Fineman’ Rawlins and his declaration that he had been framed for the murder of the miners.
Reminiscing on what was deemed the worst experience of her life, the passenger of the Aroaima/Linden bus which was hijacked along the trail on June 16, 2008 said that ‘Fineman’ said that he and his gang were framed for the Lindo creek murders.
The murdering and the burning of the bodies of nine miners at Lindo Creek is thought to have occurred on June 12th, 2008 but it was not discovered until June 21st, 2008.
Passengers had that morning around 2 am set out on what was to be a typical trip from Aroaima to Linden. Two buses left about the same time, one filled while the other had seats available. Following a signal from the filled bus, the second bus proceeded up the Goat Farm trail to collect a few other passengers. It was after picking up the passengers – mainly women and children that things took a turn for the worse.
They were just out of the Goat Farm trail and about to turn onto the trail to Ituni when they noticed a young man believed to be no older than sixteen years flagging down the bus. “The bus just slow down it didn’t even stop properly when we see a gang of men dressed in black surround the bus and almost all of them had guns, I almost pee my skin.” reminisced the passenger who wants to remain anonymous.
According to the passenger, two of the gunmen placed a gun to the head of a female passenger who was in the front seat and at the driver’s head. “De one who said he was `Fineman’ asked the driver if he was thinking of driving away and de driver said no.”
The female passenger who was in the front seat was ordered out of the bus and after about five minutes she was made to join the others in the back of the bus after one of the gun-toting men went into the front seat. The remaining bandits then entered the bus and the driver was ordered to drive in the direction of Ituni.
Along the way one of the bandits took over the driving. “But he couldn’t drive properly and shortly after he put back the driver to drive. I was most scared at that point because he couldn’t drive properly and is was like double jeopardy. So I was glad when he gave back the driver the wheel.” the passenger recalled.
As they were almost at Ituni they noticed a large truck broken down completely blocking the way. The bandits became infuriated insisting that the driver find a way to pass the truck. After insisting that there was no way he could pass the truck the driver was ordered to turn around the bus and head back down the trail. “That was when they took us down a trail where I don’t even know where we were but I could remember they took away all our cell phones and ID cards. Wherever we were we were getting signal because one of them used one of the cell phones and called somebody who apparently was giving them some direction and he told whoever the person was that “we gon meet in a short while.”
Shortly after the phone call the bus was ordered to stop and to pick up another man who was a member of the gang. After that pick up another call was made and according to the passenger it sounded like the other person was somewhere in the bushes. Passengers were ordered not to move or make any sound as a vehicle was seen coming from the opposite direction.
After the vehicle had passed the driver was ordered to stop the bus. “That is when you know who introduced himself to us saying he was `Fineman’ (and giving his real name which the passenger couldn’t recall at the time). He said to us `y’all know who I am, I am (full name) called Fineman. Nobody move until I say so.’”
Dead end
The journey continued and it was after they passed the point where they had picked up the most recent passenger that they realized that they were on the Goat Farm trail.
They drove until they reached a dead end and were ordered out of the bus. The bandits circled the driver and the passengers and said a prayer after which `Fineman’ told them that “y’all know wha, I could kill all y’all wah deh hay now, but I gon spare y’all life only if y’all promise that y’all ain’t gon say nothing to nobody.”
The passengers were then ordered to take all their baggage out of the bus and “keep moving.” Prior to this `Fineman’ had asked a passenger if he had heard on the TV and read in the newspapers what was being said about the wanted gang in relation to the Lindo Creek murders. Up to this point, June 16ht, the murders had not been discovered as yet by Camp owner Leonard Arokium and there had been nothing in the media about it.
“They started talking about the Lindo Creek incident, I can’t remember exactly everything they were saying but in essence they were saying that they were framed and that they were innocent.”
Left to make their way to safety, the passengers worried about the fate of the driver who was left to the mercy of the bandits and headed out of the Goat Farm Tail. “It look like we were walking forever but eventually we reached the head of the trail it look to me like it was around 5 am.
At that point they debated among themselves whether to head in the direction of Ituni or back to Aroaima. They however agreed to remain at the junction in the hope that they would have been rescued by some vehicle or the other.
It turned out that they were rescued by the very bus they started their journey on. According to the passenger they became very scared when they noticed a bus blazing down the Goat Farm trail at high speed. It turned out to be their bus, this time minus the bandits. The driver stopped and they hurried into the bus and he once again sped off at high speed back to Aroaima.
All this time the driver was absolutely quiet. “He didn’t say a word not even to say what happened to him after we left and `til this day we haven’t heard a word from him or anyone else what transpired after we left.” The matter was reported at the Aroaima checkpoint. The police were summoned also and they promptly responded by heading out into the trail. Later the very day passengers and their relatives and friends received word that two of the men were caught and shot dead.
On the way back to Aroaima the passenger said a man dressed in black was waving frantically to the bus to stop but he was paid no heed as the driver sped on.
“When I heard the names I remembered them being mentioned among the gang while they were carrying on their conversations. It was `Willie’ who had placed the gun to the head of the woman who was in the front passenger seat”, the passenger said.
Aggravate
That said morning there were a few children on board the bus, some very young and others dressed in their school uniform. According to the passenger, the children were very scared. “At one point one of them asked if the men were going to kill us and she was hushed by one of the female passengers. I guess she didn’t want to aggravate to bandits so we all did our best in keeping the children silent.”
It was obvious that the children were scared and tired throughout the ordeal. Parents were forced to pull their children to the limits especially after being released and having to trek the long distance to the head of the trail, she said. “They were thirsty and tired, the little ones were crying, they were hungry and scared to the max. I don’t think that they have been able to come to grips with that experience until this day,” said the passenger.
The horrific events occurred around Father’s Day that year and according to the passenger she recalled another saying that she was going to Linden to be with her husband and children. She never made it out until approximately three days later by which time two of the men were captured and killed.
“For me joining a bus to come out to Linden was the hardest thing ever. I was so cold all along because I kept getting flashbacks and what made it worse I knew that there were still some of them at large still.” The passenger said that relating the story to SN was the first time she had ever told it in its entirety. She said that because they had made the promise to the bandits they had given police and soldiers only fragments of the story despite being assured of protection.
Passengers checked daily on the news where they were able to positively identify the men as they were captured since they had observed their faces because they were unmasked and only had black toques on their heads. They confirmed that those caught and killed were members of the gang that had hijacked the bus.
At the time they remembered `Fineman’ and `Uncle Willie’ sporting dreadlocks. The passenger told SN that despite the experience she would still ply the route periodically. `Fineman’ was killed on August 28, 2008 by police at Timehri.
Observers had argued that if `Fineman’ was in the Goat Farm area on June 16th it is possible that he could have gotten there after the June 6th confrontation between police and the gang at Christmas Falls. However, the observers say it would be unlikely that between this period – June 6th to June 16th – the gang could have re-crossed the Berbice River and carried out the Lindo Creek massacre. Rogue elements in the army and police have been accused of involvement in the Lindo Creek massacre but thus far investigations have not yielded conclusive answers.
