1st murder in Tobago for year –THA WORKER GUNNED DOWN

THE village of Plymouth was in mourning on Thursday as it was the scene of Tobago's first murder for the year.

Nigel Sandy, alias Pahjoe, an evaluator at the THA Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, was killed near Shelbourne Street, where residents heard several loud explosions, at around 6.14 am, police reported. Sandy worked in the public health department.

He was found on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Scarborough General Hospital in an EHS ambulance but was pronounced dead on arrival by Dr Leo.

When Newsday visited the village, all was calm. Crime scene investigators were at the scene, along with several family members and residents. But family members did not want to talk.

One bystander said he was traumatised.

“I had just left the bench for literally two seconds, next thing I hear is shots. By the time I run back, the man was over him finishing him off then they drive off. Every morning he does sit down there.”

He said he only saw two masked men but was uncertain if there were more occupants in the vehicle. As a resident in the village all his life, he said a murder in the village has not shocked him.

“It is something that you could have seen coming for a long time because of how life going today – Plymouth is no different from anywhere else and it is a sad scene.”

What upset him the kind of person who was murdered.

“The individual, he isn’t any drugs man, he’s not a bad man – is just probably who you affiliate with or whatever, I don’t know. All kind of speculations going on, but I don’t know.”

He added: “He normal, I can’t really say nothing bad about him.”

Another resident said he was shocked by the death.

“Pahjoe was very normal. He would lime and idle talk, he wasn’t in drugs nor criminal activities, why he was murdered remains a mystery.”

Shortly after midday, a video began circulating showing Sandy being shot from inside the car as it arrived on the junction. It later showed two of the car’s occupants disembarking and shooting Sandy a few more times, before they left the area.

The island recorded ten murders in 2022.

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine could not be reached, while Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael and the electoral representative for the area, Niall George, declined comment.

When contacted economist Anslem Richards, who does crime analysis, expressed his condolences to the family and Tobago by extension.

“All of us, this is not only about the immediate and biological family, but the Tobago family have also lost a son and anytime a Tobagonian is killed in a manner like this, it is a loss to all of us. I extend condolences to the family of the victim and tell them trust in God, and this should strengthen them to ensure that they do their part to ensure that their communities, their homes are now safer so that another member would not fall victim to this rise of violence that is now, not only consuming Tobago but Trinidad and Tobago and the region, the world as a whole.”

Richards said one life being lost in this manner is frightening.

“Tobago is a very small close-knit society – we don’t have the population depth to withstand the impact of gun violence in this society. Multiple relatives, families and friends would be hurt by this and what this means is that we have to close our ranks as Tobagonians and squeeze the illegal firearms out of our communities or else the blood of our sons and daughters, fathers, nephews, uncles and grandparents and parents will be flowing in the streets of our communities.”

He added: “The police alone cannot do it, the police will be the lead agency but the police need the support of every member of the community, the villages, every child, every family. Every community needs to come together and stand against gun violence. The presence of illegal firearms in Tobago should be something that is anti-Tobago culture.”

The THA, he said, is meeting continuously with the police to ensure that the security mechanisms are improved. The base of that effort, he said has to be with every single Tobagonian.

“We have to come together – we have to make our homes safe, make our communities safe, make our streets safe by reporting illegal activities, capturing it on our phones, sending it to the required agency and putting the minority hazardous group that is reaping havoc in our society out in terms of their criminal conduct. It’s an attitudinal change, it is a cultural change towards organising and mobilising the community against violence and crime.”

He said going forward, the gaps in the security system must be closed.

“We have to look at our ports of entries, we have to look at our border security issues, we have to look at even what is happening with our fishermen because there are conversations that Venezuelans are meeting them, and they will give you a Glock 19 and two magazines with 25, 30, 40, 50 rounds for a bucket of pigtail. We have those conversations coming in from the high seas by the fishermen so we have to look at all angles and all aspect of this thing to see how we can close these illegal opportunities and shutdown these illegal outfits and operations in our community to ensure that at the end of the day we’re not creating an environment where crime and violence would prosper and strive and survive and the wider community is paying a price.”

He said collectively, Tobagonians are strong and can defeat the small criminal group that is trying to create havoc.