— as she meets Lindo Creek CoI team

CLENCHING an old, rugged pants close to her chest as she cried bitterly, Yonette Torres vowed that the persons responsible for the brutal murder of her son will pay the ultimate price.

The pants, though tattered and worn, is among the remaining material belongings she has of her son, Nigel Torres, who was among the eight miners who were reportedly tortured, shot and killed before their remains were burnt at a mining camp at Lindo Creek in June 2008, in the Upper Berbice River.

The Joint Services, comprising the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF), have been accused of committing the gruesome crime, but they have long rejected this allegation while laying the blame squarely at the feet of the Rondell “Fine-Man” Rawlins gang.

Ms. Torres is said to have critical information pertaining to the massacre, and on Thursday, Chairman of the Lindo Creek Commission of Inquiry (CoI) Justice (ret’d) Donald Trotman led a team from Linden through the treacherous Ituni/Kwakwani trail to meet with her.
Sitting a stone’s throw from where she last saw her 17-year-old son at the Kwakwani Waterfront, Torres hinted at having information on the death of her son, but expressed fear for her life.

“And, you know, I have some things to say. I didn’t want to say it; I didn’t want to say it really because you know when you say it, what would be at the back of you. People say lots of things to me, but I don’t want to say it because of my children and I want to live for them. I have two daughters there, and I have my grandchildren. I look at them and I want to live to see them,” the still grieving woman said as she cried bitterly.

“I am very scared to say what I want to say; I am not going to say anything, but if I die, God is going to take charge of my children,” she added.

Though she could not recall the exact month in 2008 when she last saw her son, Torres noted that it was not long after he had returned from living with his sister further up the Berbice River.

Financial challenges faced by the family at the time had caused him to drop out of school at an early age, but it was never the intention of his mother to have him work. He took care of his two sisters, farm and kept the environment clean by constantly weeding the yard.
It was while assisting his mother that one of the miners, who had come to know the Torres’ family by frequenting the waterfront at Kwakwani, asked that he, Nigel Torres, take up a job at the diamond mining camp at Lindo Creek.

Torres’ immediate response was reportedly ‘no’ but her husband agreed for him to journey to the interior to mine for diamond.

WAS NOT HAPPY
“I wasn’t happy,” she posited, while noting that it was a Sunday morning after requesting a bed sheet and a pair of long boots, her son packed most of his belongs and left for Lindo Creek.

“He said dad I am going to work and help my two sisters, they were very small and he was going to work to help them, and that was the finishing of my son,” Torres said as she continued to cry bitterly.

After several weeks or possible months would have passed, Torres became worried that her son had not returned from the mining camp. In June 2008, the concerned mother said she noticed a strange vehicle at the Kwakwani Waterfront and in the proximity a man stood gazing into the river.

Later she was informed that the “black-clothes” was in the area in search of Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, who at the time was heading a criminal gang that was causing havoc in the country.

In addition to a number of other “strange vehicles” traversing the area which is located several miles away from Lindo Creek, Torres recalled receiving a phone call from a man who questioned about the last time she saw her son.

In that conversation, the woman disclosed that she had enquired from a number of persons who stated that they saw him and he was ok, but that she was still concerned. “Next thing I heard that my son got killed and was burnt,” she further recalled.

Today, close to 10 years after the massacre occurred, Torres aside from the photos of her son, holds close to her heart a pair of rugged pants as a reminder of the love she and her husband have for their son.

“You know why we loved him, is because he was mannerly, respectful. He was never rude, he was always kind to us, he was always loving, and I say this with tears in my eyes, I really miss my son and whoever did that, they are going to pay for it, they are going to pay for it… no one feels the pain that a mother feels,” Torres said, as she wept while being consoled by Justice Retired Trotman and members of his team.

In addition to Nigel Torres, Dax Arokium, Cedric Arokium, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes, Bonny Harry, Clifton Wong and Lancelot Lee are the other victims of the massacre.

Close to 10 years after their murder, Justice Retired Trotman will today lead a team into Lindo Creek – the scene of the crime – as he continues his investigation. The Commission’s Attorney Patrice Henry and Public Relations Officer, Melanie Morris are part of the team.

It is hoped that by the conclusion of this inquiry, the families of the deceased will received the closure they seek.