Deputy Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Paul Pierre is appealing to the authorities to provide firearms and other means for toshaos – who have the power to make arrests as rural constables but no means to protect themselves from acts of violence.
Pierre made the appeal yesterday in the wake of the beheading of Toshao Solomon Lewis of Kurutuku Village in the Middle Mazaruni and the severing of his son, Marvin’s hand after they intervened during a domestic dispute between Lewis’ son-in-law and his daughter on New Year’s Day.
He told Stabroek News that the issue of arming toshaos had been raised at NTC conferences previously and he had raised the issue in 2015 and in 2016, even before he became an NTC executive member.