Tacuma Ogunseye of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) remains in police custody, his attorney Nigel Hughes said yesterday.
Ogunseye surrendered to the police on Friday afternoon subsequent to a wanted bulletin being issued for him following the controversial statements he made at a March 9th public meeting at Buxton, East Coast Demerara.
Hughes in a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon said, “There was no further development in the investigation today as far as we have been advised. There was no attempt to contact the attorneys today.”
Ogunseye’s March 9th remarks prompted strong criticism from the government and other parts of society.
Among other things, Ogunseye said “…In 2002, 2005, … Buxton got … into an unfortunate situation which arose because of the PPP policy of executing Africans using the police force and then the phantom force and Buxton find itself in the cross road.”
He went on to contend that the treatment people of African descent received in this country was unjust and there was a “political urgency” which must be acted upon as early as possible.
The WPA executive member also said, “…Sometimes people tell me that to remove the PPP will be hard and long but I don’t necessarily believe… because at the end of the day no government could survive if they don’t have the support of the military and those who carry weapons for the state… the reality is, the army, the police, are majority African Guyanese… once we organise our people and once we begin to fight we will ensure that our brothers and sisters in uniform will do the right thing and when they do the right thing this matter is over in days and not weeks… it have to be strategic.”
Hughes, in an earlier update posted on his Facebook page on Saturday said that Ogunseye was interviewed late in the afternoon by a sergeant of police at CID Headquarters.
He was told that he was a suspect in relation to the offence of attempting to incite racial hostility.
Hughes stated that Ogunseye, at the commencement of the interview, told the interviewer that he was a member of the executive of the WPA and the WPA has been in politics for over 40 years during which time it had always adhered to the parameters for public meetings.
Hughes said that Ogunseye also informed the interviewer that he would have nothing to say during the course of the interview.
The officer then played the recording of 9th March. Ogunseye remained silent throughout the questioning by the officer.
At the conclusion of the interview, upon enquiries whether it was necessary to detain Ogunseye, Hughes said the officer indicated that he would have to seek instructions from “higher up”. Ogunseye was taken to the Brickdam Police Station around 6.30 pm.
Hughes had posted pictures of a policeman who was taking footage of the attorneys’ presence at CID Headquarters.
In his update yesterday, the attorney informed that relatives and friends of the police officer indicated that they feared he might be targeted for doing his job. Hughes said in light of the concern, he proposed to remove the images of the officer who was assigned by senior officers of the Guyana Police Force to videotape lawyers who were representing Ogunseye.
