Mass unrest that erupted earlier this week over the tragic death of 11-year-old Adrianna Younge has led to 43 people being charged and remanded on serious offences, including terrorism. Protest demonstrations, initially calling for justice in the girl’s mysterious drowning, descended into chaos on Monday when criminal elements hijacked the crowds – burning barricades, looting stores, and terrorising communities from Georgetown to Berbice. In response, police mounted nationwide operations to track down suspects caught on CCTV and viral videos setting fires and ransacking businesses. By Wednesday, dozens of accused rioters appeared before magistrates in Georgetown and other districts to face indictable charges under Guyana’s counter-terror laws.
Those charged come from diverse backgrounds – vendors, laborers, even a former soldier – underscoring how quickly the unrest spread. Police detailed incidents like the looting of a Chinese-operated supermarket on Cemetery Road, where a mob stole GY$6 million in goods ranging from groceries to phone cards guyanatimesgy.com. In another case, two men allegedly torched debris on a roadway after raiding a store, an act captured in videos showing smoke billowing across a Georgetown street guyanatimesgy.com. Similar scenes played out in several neighborhoods, with opportunists blocking roads and setting fires “to incite fear,” according to charges filed guyanatimesgy.com guyanatimesgy.com. Each of the 43 accused has been remanded to custody as investigations continue.
At a press briefing, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo squarely blamed the opposition PNC/APNU for orchestrating the disturbances. Jagdeo alleged that opposition operatives cynically exploited Adrianna’s death to whip up chaos. “APNU’s currency is rigging elections and spreading fear…that was the purpose of this exercise – not justice for Adrianna,” he said, arguing the rioting was a deliberate ploy.Jagdeo noted that while many citizens genuinely wanted answers about the girl’s death, the protests were “mobilised…to create mayhem” by political actors linked to the opposition guyanatimesgy.com. He condemned what he called “low-life…disgusting” behavior of some opposition figures who held a press conference near the crime scene, accusing them of capitalizing on people’s grief for political gain.
In the wake of Monday’s riots, the PPP/C government took urgent measures to restore order. A nightly curfew was declared from 12:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., and joint police-army patrols were deployed in hotspot areas guyanatimesgy.com. Authorities also launched a public tip line and social media campaign to identify perpetrators caught on camera, leading to the wave of arrests and charges by mid-week guyanatimesgy.com. “We will pursue everyone who committed acts of terror or theft,” a police official said, noting more suspects are being sought.
Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, for his part, has denied wrongdoing and tried to flip the script – claiming without evidence that it was the PPP that infiltrated the protests with “criminal elements” to make the opposition look bad guyanatimesgy.com. Jagdeo dismissed Norton’s claim as “not surprising”, saying it fits a pattern of the PNC: foment fear then blame the PPP.
As calm returns to the streets, Adrianna Younge’s name remains at the center of a fraught political discourse. The government insists that genuine justice for the child – whose funeral is set for Monday – will be achieved not by mob havoc but by a thorough investigation (see related story) and holding any culprits accountable through the courts. In the meantime, the PPP/C has made it clear it will not tolerate violent unrest, vowing to prosecute instigators while accusing the opposition of “weaponizing grief” for political ends.
