Student to make court appearance today

UG bomb threats

University of Guyana student Sheliza Jaffarrally, who was questioned in relation to the bomb threats made against the tertiary institution, was charged and is expected to make her court appearance today at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
She will answer to the offence of misuse of a telecommunication device under the Telecommunications Act of Guyana. The young woman has retained Latchmi Rahamat as her attorney. A Police source confirmed that the young lady was officially charged on Sunday.
Jaffarrally was reportedly taken into Police custody where she was questioned in relation to threats which surfaced primarily on social media.
The University had postponed all classes until February 11 after a second bomb threat was directed at the learning institution on Thursday morning, thus resulting in the administration’s call to protect the lives of students and implement responsive measures.
Thursday was the second consecutive day on which a threat was issued, resulting in another visit from both the Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Police Force to conduct a thorough search of the premises.
The University on Thursday said that time is needed for response mechanisms to be put in place in the case of any emergency and as such all classes were suspended. On February 11, all activities are scheduled to resume as per normal, the institution in a statement said, adding that it will also enable the institution to assess situations which occurred over the recent days.
After Police ranks completed their search, it was noted that there have been “no significant threats” and further, that mischievous persons are behind these acts to disrupt the campus’ atmosphere.
A meeting was convened on Wednesday evening with Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith and other senior officials where “the situation was assessed and they were advised that the situation arose from mischievous students, either by themselves or other persons.”
This first bomb threat emerged earlier on Wednesday which indicated that other persons would be planting explosives at various institutions. The posts were prevalent on Facebook as seen in the name of an unknown individual going by the name of “Ki Ra” on Wednesday saying, “This is not the end”.
Apart from these threats, other schools within Georgetown received threats as well, raising concerns among parents about the level of security.
The first, aimed at School of Nations, escalated when the Director, Brian O’Toole, was shot. He is said to be recovering well. Circumstances at the Bishops’ High School and Queen’s College resumed normalcy.