No arrest for Guyanese murdered in Barbados

Apr 19, 2009 News

– sister disappointed with indifference of law enforcement officials

Christopher Anthony Griffith

By Dale Andrews
The sister of a Guyanese man who was shot dead in Barbados is disappointed with the way the island’s police have been treating the matter.
It’s been almost a year since Christopher Anthony Griffith was killed in the ‘Hippo Bar’ on Bay Street, St Michael, in Barbados, and his sister Abiola Alleyne, who resides on the island, believes that because her brother was a Guyanese, the authorities there appear to be indifferent to the murder.
“As far as I know the Guyana Consul here has never looked into the matter. He has never contacted me. I have to be calling the police to find out what is happening. He (Consul) for one has done nothing,” Alleyne told this newspaper via telephone yesterday.

Griffith, 26, who is originally from Pamona Village, Essequibo, was shot dead on July 19 last year when gunmen invaded a bar, which is owned by a Guyanese woman Seelochanie Samuels.
Samuels was also shot during the attack and had to be hospitalised for doctors to remove several bullets, one of which was lodged near her heart.
Relatives of the two Guyanese had initially believed that the incident was a direct attack on the Guyanese community on the island.
But police on the island later confirmed that the incident was associated with a robbery on the establishment.

Abiola Alleyne told this newspaper that she believes that investigators in Barbados are not too keen on probing the matter.
The alleged killer is said to be a Barbadian.
“A few months ago a Canadian citizen died after she was attacked on a beach here. Within a short time they found the killer,” she reasoned.
She said that a description of the killer was given to the Barbadian investigators and yet there appears to be no intensified effort to apprehend him
“Barbados is a small island and with the description, they (investigators) should have been able to find him after one year. I don’t want my brother’s murder to go unsolved,” Alleyne lamented.
She confirmed that her brother had shared a relationship with the bar owner but stated that that had nothing to do with his death.

“There was a lot of talk about my brother being involved in drugs, but I know that my brother was not involved in anything illegal,” Alleyne told Kaieteur News.
On Saturday, July 19, last, at around 19:00 hours, two gunmen walked into the Hippo Bar and opened fire during what investigators have confirmed was a robbery attack.
The shooting was hardly reported in the media on the island and this newspaper was unsuccessful in attempts to gather information from the sister CARICOM territory.
Samuels’s relatives were angry with the way the matter was being treated by the Barbadian authorities at the time.

“Is this a direct spin-off of what was recently said by the Barbados Prime Minister that the island is not ready for an influx of other Caribbean nationals or is it a campaign against Guyanese?” one relative had asked.
This newspaper was told that Samuels, who has been residing in Barbados for close to 10 years, had established the bar and many Guyanese frequented the spot to link up with their countrymen, many of whom are employed in the construction industry on the island.
According to the relative, the Barbados police had been ‘harrassing’ the business place, apparently looking for illegal Guyanese workers.

On many occasions, Samuels, whose husband is a Barbadian, had to challenge the Bajan authorities whenever they raided her business.
“She was of the opinion that they were envious of her progress. She has been living there for eight to ten years and is a legitimate resident of Barbados,” the relative told this newspaper.
Griffith’s mother, Edith Latchman, is of the view that there is an apparent dislike for Guyanese in Barbados.
“I don’t know how to explain. Everybody is in shock; nobody expected this. Chris was my baby,” Mrs. Latchman had told this newspaper.
Griffith’s brother, Rueben, with whom he was also very close, told Kaieteur News that the impact of his brother’s death was not easy to explain.
“It is really troubling me. I don’t know who did it because there are many other people other than Barbadians living on the island. Chris never had any problems with the Barbadians,” he said.
Griffith’s body was brought back to Guyana for burial in Essequibo.

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