On Monday afternoon, the offices of Guardian Media Ltd (GML), St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, were shut down by a bomb scare called in at around 3.30 pm. Work came to a halt as hundreds of staff members had to evacuate the building, then wait while security forces and sniffer dogs carried out a lengthy search. Normal operations at six radio stations, our sister television station CNC3 and the T&T Guardian were interrupted.
Bomb scares, sadly, are an occasional feature of modern life. But that this one happened shortly after a Guardian reporter interviewed Dillon “Randy” Skeete cannot be ignored. Shortly after the bomb threat, a senior soldier called an editor to ask about “a man soldiers were looking for.” Earlier, armed soldiers had come to GML’s Queen Street car park to question the security officer on duty and another member of staff about an unfamiliar car parked there since 6.15 am.
By the time of the bomb scare, Mr Skeete and his lawyer had already left, but a group of soldiers were seen parked on St Vincent Street, a few metres from the entrance to the building. The strange coincidence of the threat and the Defence Force’s interest in Mr Skeete cannot be ignored.