LINDO Creek Massacre victim Dax Arokium had promised his reputed wife that he would have returned to the city before her birthday, and when he did not, she knew something was amiss. Today, close to 10 years after, his death continues to take a psychological effect on his loved ones with his son still searching for answers, the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) heard on Friday.

Dax Arokium and seven other miners were reportedly shot and burnt to death at a mining camp at Lindo Creek in the Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice district in June, 2008. Their charred remains were discovered by his father Leonard Arokium on June 21, 2008. To date, their killers have not been brought to justice.

On Friday at the Department of the Public Service, Dax Arokium’s reputed wife, Onica Butts, took the stand before Chairman of the Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Donald Trotman, detailing not only her final words to him, but her constant search for answers and the harsh reality of being met with silence.

Dax Arokium and Butts had lived together for eight years before his demise. According to Butts, the 29-year-old was a third-year engineering student at the University of Guyana and the owner of the diamond-mining dredge operation at Lindo Creek at the time of his death.

Pregnant with their second child, Butts said she last saw her reputed husband on June 5 or 6, 2008 at William Street, Campbellville, shortly before he left for Lindo Creek.
Responding to a series of questions put before her by the commission’s Attorney Patrice Henry, Butts explained that upon arriving in Kwakwani, Dax Arokium called her and indicated that he was awaiting transportation to go to Lindo Creek. Before ending the call, the 29-year-old aspiring engineer had requested to speak with his three-year-old daughter Ciara Arokium, and had promised his reputed wife that he would have returned before her birthday, which was just days away on June 17. “I was four months pregnant with my son,” Butts revealed.

According to Butts, Dax Arokium would journey from Georgetown to Lindo Creek two to three times a month for a period of three days to a week.
When her birthday passed with a word from Dax Arokium, Butts said she knew that was unlike him. “I made calls to his relatives. I called his brother Dale Arokium to find out if he heard anything from Dax, he said ‘no, his father didn’t hear anything either,’” she recalled.
The mother of two said it was on June 21, 2008, that she received a call from Dax Arokium’s brother Dean Arokium informing her that he had been shot dead along with several other miners.

Butts said she was in disbelief. “The next morning, June 22nd, I went to the home in South Ruimveldt; soon as I got in the street, the street was ram packed with people, the house was full and everybody was saying they were sorry, and I was like, why are you sorry, why you keep saying you are sorry because Dax is going to come out, Dax is in the hospital, that was my belief,” she related.

Because of her pregnancy, information was withheld from her. But in a quest to get answers, Butts sought an audience with the then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee in August 2008 – some two months after.
“I went into him. I spent 30 minutes. That man just looked at me silently, had nothing to say to me while I was asking questions, I needed answers…his mouth was sealed, nothing. I was forced to leave because I couldn’t deal with it,” she told the commission.

According to her, she was never contacted by the government or any other agency concerning the matter. She made it clear that she was never present when DNA samples were taken by the police in connection with her husband.
She gave birth to her son on October 2, 2008. Approximately two years after she received professional counselling, and though her son accompanied her to many of those sessions, it continues to take a psychological effect on him.

According to Butts, with the case being opened, her son Dax Arokium Jr has dropped back in school, and continues to press for answers.
“He is saying that he needs answers for his father, and everybody is with their father and he doesn’t have a father to take him out and to go on tours with him, and it is so hard explaining to him what happened to his father because, I don’t even know because I was never told anything what happened to him. So it is,” Butts said as she broke down into tears.

Dax Arokium was the breadwinner of the family, providing approximately $340,000 to $400,000 a month. Today with him being gone, Butts said she is supported by the Arokium family and from time to time receives handouts and additional help from family and friends.

Commissioner Trotman, for his part, questioned at what point was she informed that the remains of Dax Arokium and the other miners had been buried. According to co-owner of Lyken Funeral Home, Dr Dawn Stewart, who had appeared before the commissioner earlier this month, the remains were burned at Le Repentir Cemetery on September 11, 2012, some four years after they were discovered. Butts, like other relatives who had appeared before the commission, said she was informed of the burial more than two years after. But on June 28, 2008, a memorial service was held in honour of him and his uncle, Cecil Arokium, who was also murdered.

The other victims include Horace Drakes, Bonny Harry, Lancelot Lee, Compton Speirs, Nigel Torres and Clifton Berry Wong.