Tuschen protest moves to President’s Office and Leonora Police Station

Apr 26, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- A protest which erupted on Thursday at the Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE)  moved to the Leonora Police Station and the Office of the President on Friday, as family members and supporters demanded justice for 11-year-old Adrianna Younge.

The child was found dead in the Double Day Hotel Pool on Thursday morning with strange marks about her body and face. She had disappeared the day before during a swimming trip with her grandmother.

After the child’s body was discovered on Thursday morning, the Hotel was set ablaze, as angry protestors torched vehicles and hurled glass bottles towards the business. Looters also helped themselves to chairs, mattresses,
plants, beverages and other items from the burning building. On Friday morning when this newspaper visited the location, the two burnt buildings were still standing, with the pool full of debris.

At least four vehicles torched the previous day were still at the location.

In the meantime,protestors moved to the Leonora Police Station and the Office of the President. At Leonora, family
members including the aunt and mother of Adrianna Younge called for the removal of Regional Commander, Khalid Mandall over the Police’s handling of the missing child report.

Outside of the Region Three Police Division Headquarters at Leonora,protestors recalled that the Police refused to drain the hotel pool the said night the child went missing.

Further, questions were raised regarding the Police’s refusal to shut down the hotel that evening to search for the 11-year-old girl.

Wendy Stuart, an aunt of Adrianna Younge told Kaieteur News, “We searched, nobody was in the pool. While we were out here and everything was going on, somebody come and say look they just throw something in the pool
and we go in and see the girl. By time then we see smoke on this building. They light the evidence. So, the Police prevent us from saving Adrianna’s life. They prevent us from having access to save Adrianna’s life.”

The woman said the Police did not search the pool and also refused to shut the building down. Furthermore, it was only until the sniffer dogs arrived that the child’s body surfaced. While surveillance cameras were seen around the
building, relatives said they were told the equipment was not functioning.

Meanwhile, other protestors accused the Police of “being in

Double Day pocket” while others shouted that they allowed a murder and helped to “cover up.”

The thoroughfare was later blocked by protestors at the Leonora Station. Further along the West Coast of Demerara at Meten-Meer-Zorg, another section of the public road was blocked by burning tyres later in the evening. Police were on the scene and reportedly arrested persons for disorderly behaviour.

In a statement, President Irfaan Ali said, “There is no way blocking public roads, burning public infrastructure, and inconveniencing citizens will help little Adrianna’s cause or those interested in the truth. These actions are now politically instigated and will not be accepted. They are unlawful and unhelpful and action will be taken.”

Office of the President protest

Meanwhile, the protest continued outside the Office of the President (OP), as Simona Broomes, leader of the Assembly Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), alongside Members of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir and Christopher Jones, and other party members, who demanded the resignation of Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken and former Commander of Region Three, Khalid Mandall.

The protestors related their outrage over the Police Force’s actions and called for accountability at the highest levels of government.

Broomes, a former minister and women’s rights activist, alleged and criticized the police force for covering up a serious crime.

She said, “They investigating lies, what rubbish the police talking what bomb shell and they reviewing their system of communication, it is not the first time police selling lies and being called out … So, the Police Force on a mission to condone crime and none of us are safe, including our children, none of us are safe, so if you deh home and feel you safe and you got money, you lie, none of us are safe.”

Broomes continued by calling for immediate action.  She added, “I come out here today (Friday) because Hickens must go home, and Ali (President Irfaan Ali) must go home, Ali must stop with this Ferris wheel thing.”

Holding placards that read, “What is justice? Is there any justice for the poor?” and “Police Commissioner must go,” protestors voiced their dissatisfaction with the authorities.

Broomes further said, “No justice for the poor, (if it was a) rich man child … he wouldn’t have got we out here under this three, even if the child did dead by accident and did drown, the whole pool did empty one time, much less police to say don’t go in, help me let it make sense, help me make it make sense.”

Reflecting on the deep impact the police’s actions had on the nation, Broomes explained, “Guyanese, these are dark days and what I witnessed yesterday because of the lies and the distraction of the Guyana Police Force, when that body appeared in the pool and the family and the community saw and witnesses that, Guyana could have been in a different place.”

Additionally, Walton-Desir, who expressed her personal heartbreak over the loss of Younge said, “I am a mother first and foremost and I am out here because my heart bleeds … because Adrianna is our daughter because anyone who has children could have been our child.”

“So, I am renewing my call outside of the Office of the President for Irfaan Ali to require the regional commander to resign, to call for the commissioner of police to resign,” the parliamentarian said.

Her colleague, Christopher Jones said, “This is information emanating from the Guyana Police Force and then yesterday we had a family member who recounted that the Guyana Police Force have indicated to them, they just saw the girl at the bus shed with a clear view of getting them to move from the premises.”

Meanwhile, one protestor shared his concerns about the safety of children in the country, emphasizing the broader implications of the case. “What happened to Adrianna could happen to any of our children,” he said.

He called on all Guyanese to join in the fight for justice, urging, “Protest wherever you are. It could be Berbice tomorrow or Linden again. We can’t let this continue.”

As chants of “enough is enough” rang out from the crowd, protestors made it clear that they would not rest until justice is served for Younge.

To that end, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) called for the dismissal of the Commissioner of Police.

The party said, “We reiterate our call for the immediate dismissal of the Commissioner of Police and those complicit in this systemic failure to protect our children and all citizens. Additionally, we demand that the owner and all others involved in, and complicit in this senseless murder of an innocent child at the Double Day Hotel be held fully responsible for their part in this egregious crime and face the justice system.”

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