Chronicle of a massacre

Apr 16, 2018 News

On June 21, 2008, the burnt remains of Cecil Arokium, Dax Arokium, Horace Drakes, Bonny Harry, Lancelot Lee, Compton Speirs, Nigel Torres and Clifton Berry Wong, were found at Lindo Creek, Upper Berbice.
The victims were employees of a diamond mining operation that was run by Mr. Leonard Arokium, whose son, Dax, and brother, Cecil, were among the victims.
Police contended that the men were slaughtered by members of the Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins gang, who had waged a deadly rampage during that period, and were being implicated in the massacre of other civilians.
The Police suggested that the ‘Fine Man’ gang had killed the men, shortly after fleeing from a shootout with lawmen at Christmas Falls, an area located some miles from Lindo Creek.
Commissioner Henry Greene even told the Kaieteur News that police had an eyewitness (a former gang member who remains in protective custody) who claimed that the ‘Fineman’ gang had killed the miners.
But mining camp boss Dax Arokium had an even more disturbing theory about the identity of the killers.
LEONARD AROKIUM’S STORY
Mr. Arokum believed that members of the Joint Services (either police ranks and/ or soldiers) slaughtered his crew and also robed his camp.
Armed with maps of the terrain and speaking to the media, Arokium suggested that it was highly unlikely that the gunmen who were holed up at Christmas Falls, Berbice River, would opt to escape in the direction of the approaching Joint Services team.
He believes that it could have been a case where the ranks, having knowledge of his operations, attacked his camp and robbed his employees.
The Arokium camp was situated on a mountain range, and he suggested that it was unlikely that the fleeing gunmen would have travelled that area in their bid to escape, since they would have been risking running right into the Joint Services ranks who were guarding the Unamco Road, which cuts through the forested area.
According to him, the Joint Services had established a base at a place called The Gate (check point) along the Unamco Road, 68 kilometres (40 miles) south of Kwakwani, up the Berbice River.
He explained that, from his estimation, when the bandits were first attacked, they would have had to use the flatlands east of his camp and across the Berbice River to make good their escape, since it would not have been wise for them to pursue a course towards his camp, which would have entailed navigating a difficult mountain range.
It would he stated, have also meant heading in the direction of the Joint Services who had sealed the road leading to and from the Arokium camp.
It later transpired that the gunmen, after eluding the Joint Services patrol, reportedly crossed the Berbice River on a makeshift raft. Five men had reportedly crossed the river no later than Friday, June 13 because, three days later, they had walked the 60 kilometres to Goat Farm, where the Joint Services killed Cecil Simeon Ramcharran, called Uncle Willie and Magic, along with 16-year-old Robin Chung, called Chung Boy.
Arokium maintained that it was unthinkable that the gunmen would cross the Berbice River, kill the miners, and then re-cross to flee to Ituni.
By continuing on their northward course along the established road, they would have been heading straight into the army checkout at The Gate, which once marked Unamco property.
The fact that the gunmen reportedly ended up near Ituni (nearly 90 km. north) a few days after the initial raid strongly suggests that the escaping bandits used the flatlands, which represent a quicker route.
Arokium was adamant that the bandits would not risk a confrontation with the security forces, and would have therefore avoided any contact with the heavily guarded road that would lead them to his camp.
He would later allege that individuals had been using his slain son’s phone and also making calls to the number.
The then Deputy head of the police Office of Professional Responsibility would later testify that he had conducted an investigation into the “rumours” that members of the Joint Services had killed the Lindo Creek miners.
However, after a two-week investigation, he found no credible evidence to support the ‘rumours.’
Despite pleas from some relatives for an independent investigation, the remains were eventually buried in one casket.

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Chronicle of a massacre

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The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

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Features/Columnists

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