Support For Grieving Family, Friends of Nikita Noel

The Government is providing grief counselling and support to the family and friends of Nikita Noel, who was killed in her community in Kew, Hanover on February 1.

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, has expressed outrage and anger at the tragic death of the nine-year-old, who was also known as ‘Jo-Jo.’

“Words cannot express the outrage and anger that all of us should feel at what happened to one of our little children. As adults, we’re supposed to protect and care for children, not hurt and kill them,” Mrs. Williams said.

“As a country, we have to join in the strongest condemnation of persons who brutalise or in any way, shape or form, harm our children. We should not normalise the brutality,” she added.

The Minister, who was speaking in the House of Representatives on Thursday (February 2), said that the Education Ministry will do whatever it can to offer counselling services and other forms of support to Nikita’s immediate family and the school community.

“Today, we grieve with the family. Words cannot express the outrage and the anger that we all should be feeling about the brutality that was committed and we hope that justice will come swiftly,” she said.

Member of Parliament for South West St. Andrew, Angela Brown-Burke, also expressed sorrow and outrage at the death of Nikita.

“We come from a place where we say it takes a village to raise a child and we say this often enough for many of us to believe that this is really what it should be. When these things happen, it reminds us that the village is not what it should be, that there are gaps that need to be fixed [and] there are breaches that we need to fill,” she said.

“I want to express our sorrow, our anger, our outrage, but I am also hoping that this could be our resolve to stamp out…this kind of brutality or resolve to make sure that every single one of us becomes a defender in that village for our children,” she added.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, noted that this “heinous act is of deep concern to the entire Jamaican population, as it has created shockwaves across the length and breadth of Jamaica”.

“This brutal act has negative consequences for the immediate and extended families, for the workplace, for community and the entire global village,” she pointed out.

Ms. Grange informed that the Bureau of Gender Affairs has been mandated to provide the necessary psychosocial support and counselling to the immediate and extended families of Nikita, as well as members of the community and school family.

The Hanover Police have taken one man into custody in relation to Nikita’s death.