…Officer held hostage, coordinated fires set to buildings

The Camp Street Prison as well as the officers’ sport Club has been gutted as inmates set coordinated fires to several buildings in a riot reminiscent of a similar one last year.
The riot started when inmates lit simultaneous fires in the buildings and one officer was held hostage reportedly by mass killer, Royden Williams, Director of Prisons Gladwyn Samuels told the media late Sunday night.

Samuels was at the time responding to questions posed during a news conference at the studios of the National Communication Network (NCN), Homestretch Avenue.
He said that the incident commenced with simultaneous fires which were lit by the prisoners. Flanked by Deputy Chief of Staff of the GDF, Nazrul Hussain, Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud and Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, the prison director noted that around 16:45hrs on Sunday, he received two phone calls, one from the prison and one from a civilian, informing him of the situation at Camp Street.

He said that he was told that an officer was being held hostage and following an exchange of gunshots, the prison’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) were activated. Samuels said the wooden sections of the prison at the corner of Durban and John Streets, as well as another wooden area close to the corner of John and Bent Streets, were set ablaze. Those areas, known as the strong-cell division and the condemned division, were immediately attended to as evacuation of the prisoners commenced.

He said that from his observation, all the wooden buildings at Camp Street were damaged or completely gutted and the Prison Sports Club, which was used as holding area, was subsequently set on fire and destroyed. Samuels said that there were no signs of unrest prior to Sunday and according to him, based on reports, the fires served as distractions which resulted in the break for freedom by the escapees. He said the duty officer, who could have been able to provide an account of what had transpired, is among other prison officers who are hospitalised.

The police commissioner told the media that the identities of two prisoners, Williams and Uree Varswayke aka “Malcom Gordon,” have been confirmed, while the identifies of three others have not been confirmed. Persaud said his Surinamese counterparts have been informed of the situation, noting that previously Varswayke, who was before the court for the murder of a security guard at Sterling Products Limited, was caught by the police there and handed over to the Guyana Police Force for the offences of armed robbery and murder.

Road blocks
Persaud said that as per procedure, roadblocks were established across the police divisions on the East Coast of Demerara. He said there were reports of an incident in which an unlicensed driver attempted to escape a police roadblock at Buxton. He said that incident was unrelated to the prison unrest.

As regards security at the Lusignan Prison, where the prisoners were relocated on Sunday night, Samuels said that security is being provided by the joint services. He said that there are rogue elements among the prisoners and efforts are being made to ensure they are isolated. Colonel Hussain told the media that the army activated its security protocols in light of the incident and according to him, the military has placed its resources for availability, including air assets. Fire Chief Marlon Gentle noted at the briefing that the immediate priority of the Fire Service was to evacuate the prison and contain the blaze, adding that the conflagration was “high-intensive.”