[UPDATED] Two years after owner murdered: Marabella house firebombed

RELATIVES and neighbours of Atiba Wildman marked the second anniversary of his death on May 20 by running for their lives after assailants allegedly firebombed his home.

When Newsday went to Marabella on May 22, Wildman’s sister Nikita said she lived at the house with her son and another of her brothers, who was recently arrested. She said while visiting her son’s father, she was told around midnight that her house was on fire.

Now she is living across the street in an incomplete one-bedroom structure with walls missing and lacking basic amenities such as indoor plumbing.

Nikita told Newsday the incident was no accident but a targeted firebomb attack.

“We have footage showing from a camera out there (the road) that the fellas come from on the culvert here and throw it and they were waiting in front here to see if my little cousin would run out, to kill him,” she said.

Adding insult to injury, she said, the attack came on the anniversary of Wildman’s death.

“How much more we could take? How much more we could take from people?”

Nikita said the police did not take her seriously when she tried to tell them what she saw on the surveillance video.

“What am I supposed to do?” she said, in tears.

She is asking the authorities to relocate her and her son from the area.

Wildman, who worked for the San Fernando City Corporation, was killed on May 20, 2022, when gunmen attacked him at home during a family gathering. He died while being treated at the San Fernando General Hospital. Although fire services responded to the blaze on May 20, the fire completely gutted three homes, including Wildman’s, and damaged another.

Also homeless are Kathleen Joseph, 62 and Vishnu Shah, 38.

Joseph said she was in bed around 11.30 pm when she began to smell smoke and hear crackling noises. She believes her home could have been saved if the fire service arrived sooner. She said she lost everything she worked her life to attain.

“Everything. I used to live (in) America for a while. Things my daughter did send down – that’s years aback – everything gone.

“I hadda hope for to get somewhere to live now.”

Rollyn Mohammed, 39, was more fortunate than his neighbours, as his two-storey concrete house was spared by the flames. However, he is concerned about the house’s structural integrity.

He said he is now contemplating whether to return to it with his mother and two-year-old son after the concrete walls cracked. In front of his home pieces of PVC ceiling and furniture could be seen discarded after they melted from the heat.

Marabella West councillor John Michael Alibocas said he has since worked with the city corporation to provide mattresses, sheets and some clothes to help the affected families. He also said he will be collecting supplies for them and can be contacted at 472-5998.

“So if anybody wants to drop any food supplies, if anybody wants to drop any like, you know, a fridge, a stove, a microwave...I’m willing to accommodate that through my office.”

He also called for San Fernando West MP Faris Al-Rawi and other state agencies such as the National Self Help Commission and the Housing Development Corporation to get involved.

This story was originally published with the headline 'Marabella man's home firebombed on death anniversary,' and has been updated to include additional details. See original post below.

RELATIVES and neighbours of Atiba Wildman marked the second anniversary of his death on May 20 by running for their lives after assailants allegedly firebombed his home.

When Newsday went to Marabella on May 22, Wildman's sister Nikita said she lived at the house with her son and another of her brothers, who was recently arrested. She said while visiting her son's father, she was told around midnight that her house was on fire.

Now she is living across the street in an incomplete one-bedroom structure with walls missing and lacking basic amenities such as indoor plumbing.

Nikita told Newsday the incident was no accident but a targeted firebomb attack.

"We have footage showing from a camera out there (the road) that the fellas come from on the culvert here and throw it and they were waiting in front here to see if my little cousin would run out, to kill him," she said.

Adding insult to injury, she said, the attack came on the anniversary of Wildman's death.

"How much more we could take? How much more we could take from people?"

Nikita said the police did not take her seriously when she tried to tell them what she saw on the surveillance video.

"What am I supposed to do?" she said, in tears.

She is asking the authorities to relocate her and her son from the area.

Wildman, who worked for the San Fernando City Corporation, was killed on May 20, 2022, when gunmen attacked him at home during a family gathering. He died while being treated at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Although fire services responded to the blaze on May 20, the fire completely gutted three homes, including Wildman's, and damaged another.

Also homeless are Kathleen Joseph, 62 and Vishnu Shah, 38.

Although his home was still standing, Rollyn Mohammed, 39, is contemplating whether to return to it with his mother and two-year-old son after the flames cracked the concrete walls. In front of his home pieces of PVC ceiling and furniture could be seen discarded after they melted from the heat.

Joseph said she was in bed around 11.30 pm when she began to smell smoke and hear crackling noises. She believes her home could have been saved if the fire service arrived sooner. She said she lost everything she worked her life to attain.

"Everything. I used to live (in) America for a while. Things my daughter did send down – that's years aback – everything gone.

"I hadda hope for to get somewhere to live now."