It was not surprising the way the terror in Agricola Thursday night was reported by the opposition media, especially the Kaieteur News. The undisputed facts of the incident are numerous. First, the carriageways of the East Bank roadway were completely blocked off for hours with debris set on fire by an instructed mob. The said mob overturned a minibus and set it ablaze. This severed traffic not only for affected thousands of East Bank residents, but thousands others who were on their way to West Demerara via the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Secondly, the blockage, which was clearly an asphyxiation of people’s constitutional right to free movement, resulted in thousands, including children, mothers with babies and the elderly, endangering their lives to get past the burning debris or to head back to the city, as the case of those on their way home. This led to many of them being beaten and robbed by members of the mob who were armed with cutlasses and other dangerous and fear-instilling weaponry. The victims are now left traumatised, not to mention their loss of money and other personal property.

Thirdly, the police were taunted and intimidated as mob members brandished cutlasses in their faces, assaulted them with missiles and flash bombs, causing one rank to suffer severe burns. In spite of these unlawful advances by the mob, the police remained resolute, so much so that those affected strongly felt that more stringent action could have been taken earlier to prevent the mayhem from escalating. Fourthly, the police were battered prior to the incident by the AFC and its co-conspirator, APNU. That was perhaps why the law enforcement officers were over-cautious. Looking back, that clearly seems the exact preference of the AFC/APNU union.

Fifthly, the terror, which some are hypocritically trying to defend as a peaceful protest, was carefully timed to coincide with the heavy East Bank afternoon rush-hour traffic. This was a deliberate effort to maximise the number of people to be affected. In addition, the day chosen for the unleashing of the chaos followed the expiration of an ultimatum given to H.E. President Donald Ramotar by the Chairman of the AFC, Mr. Nigel Hughes, who promised consequences had the said ultimatum not been adhered to by the Head of State. Clearly, they were consequences, numerous.

Given these undeniable facts, without a wavering of thought, those who orchestrated that terror on innocent Guyanese must be held accountable. The masterminds and those who wielded their cutlasses for all to see, those who robbed and provoked the police, causing injury, and most of whom were caught on video, must be made to face the brunt of the law. What is even more disgusting is the manner in which the Kaieteur News reported on the issues. The paper, an Opposition apologist, tried to justify the terror based on a comment made by Dr. Roger Luncheon.

The Opposition mouthpiece gave so much prominence to the comment in a designed effort to make readers believe that the robbery on others, the burning of a vehicle, the injury to a police officer, and the trauma the thousands were forced to endure, were insignificant. Nothing more can be insulting to people who were horrified the way they were. How could children, mothers with babies and the elderly, desperate to escape with their lives and having to walk miles, be insignificant? How could a mob wielding cutlasses and robbing and injuring others, be glorified in defiance of a comment?

Even if the comment was seen as insensitive, as the Opposition is making it out to be, it could never be a justifiable reason to maim, rob and burn! When the phrase of “rumbling” was first used for an international boxing match in the continent of Africa, no one in the villages even contemplated what was seen in Agricola recently. So to even suggest that Dr. Luncheon’s comment was the catalyst is an overdose of balderdash. What happened in Agricola is part of an orchestrated plan to demoralise the police, destabilise the country, reverse the progress and to seek power by undemocratic means.

The Opposition affiliated media houses and “social commentators” are integral to this plan, hence no surprise in the way the Kaieteur News reported on the Agricola incident. The AFC/APNU union, in this case the AFC taking the lead, has demanded an inquiry into prior shootings in Linden and Agricola and have championed the cause of those affected. Would they now call for similar intervention into the mayhem caused by the mob of October 10? Would they unconditionally condemn the actions of the said mob and genuinely accept that their role aided the infliction of injury and trauma to Guyanese?

Would they genuinely commend the police for the restraint shown, even though it was what they wanted and which was not the preference of those on the receiving end of the mob? It would be a folly to harbour such expectations for it would be counterproductive to the Opposition’s plot. Only recently, the AFC Vice-Chairman unashamedly did not mask his disdain for the President and reportedly proclaimed he would stop at nothing to unseat the Head of State. With such callous comments, one can only conclude that the Agricola incident was no coincidence. That evaporates any expectation of remorse!