As the one-year anniversary of the brutal murder of Customs Officer Nigel Christian draws nigh, the government is assuring concerned residents that significant progress has been made in the investigation.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne made this disclosure on Observer AM, yesterday, after many questions about the investigation were posted to the media company’s Facebook page.
“I can reassure the people of Antigua and Barbuda that we have made available all resources to bring the perpetrators to justice. I can assure the people, as well, that significant progress has been made, and I am sure that within a matter of maybe a week, a few weeks, that arrests will be made and those individuals concerned who were involved in the heinous act will obviously be brought to justice,” Browne announced.
Efforts to reach Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney for further information on the matter proved futile.
However, Police PRO Inspector Frankie Thomas told our newsroom that “once information becomes available, we will share it with the public”.
Meanwhile, Browne also condemned assertions that the matter is politically linked and will be swept under the rug, saying those accusations are coming from people who are being “malicious”.
“At this time, I just don’t have the appetite for this type of engagement. This is a time when we require some level of unity, some level of constructive discourse to address the challenges of Covid, so I will just literally ignore those politically mischievous comments and focus on the challenge at hand, and that is the issue of Covid, to bring Covid under control and to return our country to normalcy as soon as possible,” the PM remarked.
Last December, Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney said cracking the Nigel Christian murder would have depended heavily on circumstantial evidence.
Even after soliciting assistance from regional and international law enforcement agencies, Rodney said that the absence of witnesses makes solving the case more challenging.
On July 10, Christian was abducted from his McKinnons home by four men. His bullet-riddled body was later found on a dirt road a few miles away from his home.
Commissioner Rodney had also said that despite all the public anxiety, the police have been working feverishly on the high-profile case.
Several pickets, organised by the Concerned Citizens group, were also held in 2020, to demand answers and a thorough probe into the killing.