Dr Brian O’Toole, the head of Nations University yesterday lamented that there had been no progress seven months on in relation to the attempt on his life.
“It is now more than 7 months since I was shot outside of my home. We have received more than 650 messages of support from people all over the world and I thought this could be a simple thank you to all those comments and outpourings of love and empathy. Time has passed, no one has been arrested, my hand is still paralysed. There has been so much publicity in several newspapers and radio and TV programmes in more than 10 countries. Surely, many, many persons are tired of ‘my story’. But it is not ‘my’ story, it has become ‘our’ story”, he said in a statement.
He noted that the shooting occurred after the school expelled a young boy for allegedly selling drugs in schools.
“All this was shared with the police. The threats made against schools in the capital were also shared with the police and with the American Embassy in Georgetown as these came from a young man in Florida. Again no action. It was reported to us by the Guyana police that the same Florida youth was interviewed by the FBI and his response that the whole matter was just a ‘joke’ (and that) was enough to end any further action. It is therefore ‘our’ story in that an attempted murderer is left on the loose, drugs continue to be peddled in many schools, children are being intimidated not to come forward to give evidence …. so it is not ‘my’ story but a tragic situation that affects us all”, he declared.
