Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has come out in defence of the Hunters’ Search and Rescue Team, led by Shamsudeen Ayube and is warning teenagers who choose to behave like adults that they cannot expect to fall back on their status as children when the law intervenes.
The Prime Minister yesterday weighed in on the controversy surrounding a viral video of a 13-year-old girl who was reported missing and subsequently found by Ayube’s team.
However, she acknowledging that lessons must be learnt following concerns raised by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and members of the public about the publication of a video identifying the minor.
Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, Persad-Bissessar questioned why the public debate appeared to be centred on the video rather than the circumstances surrounding the child’s disappearance.
“So the problem is that the search group posted a video? I thought the problem would have been that a minor who was missing for 26 days, whose mother was looking for her, was actually found living in the forest with a 49-year-old man,” she said.
The TTPS called for the video to be taken down, expressing concern that identifying the child could expose her to stigma, trauma and further harm. It added that publication was a criminal offence.
In a statement, the police service acknowledged the contribution of community organisations, including the Hunters’ Search and Rescue Team, in locating missing persons. However, it stressed that images of missing children are circulated for the sole purpose of finding them and that their identities must be protected when they are the subject of a police investigation.
Ayube to sue
The controversy comes for Ayube’s team less than three weeks after receiving a national award for service to the country.
Ayube and Vallence Rambharat, both leaders of their own Hunters Search and Rescue teams, were conferred with the Hummingbird Medal (Gold) at the 2026 National Awards for devoted service through volunteer search-and-rescue operations, disaster response and support to law enforcement.
After the call made by the TTPS, both videos of the child have since been removed from Facebook.
Contacted for comment, Ayube would not say whether he had read the release or been contacted by police. He said he spoke to his lawyer and would be in court with senior counsel come Monday after threatening to drag the media to court, insisting he did nothing wrong by posting videos of a recovered 13-year-old.
“That video did not break any law. The mother gave her OK to make the video,” Ayube said.
But the girl’s aunt, who said she is her legal guardian, wants answers. The child lived with her and went missing from her home, and she reported it to police. She said she found out on social media that her niece had been found.
“I am really grateful that they found her, yes, but I would like to know in what circumstances, why you all published my niece like that and questioned her like that on the media. This is a minor; this is a child,” she said.
For Ayube, the target was the media. He said HSR was broke and had its eye on their pockets.
“We are broke. We need some money, and I am going to get it from the media.”
He blamed members of Rambharat’s team for keeping the criticism alive, said the media had been splitting the country, and accused another media house of aligning with the People’s National Movement.
Ayube also told Guardian Media that he did not say some of the things attributed to him in another newspaper’s report on the backlash. That report said he blamed the criticism on his being Guyanese.
Former culture minister Randall Mitchell responded to that claim on Facebook, making clear the criticism was about the child and not where Ayube is from.
“Your exposure of the child’s identity in that video has caused that child harm. You made a cardinal error. Understand the mistake, apologise for that error so that it is not repeated. Remove the video,” Mitchell wrote. He thanked Ayube for his work, noting the national award.
Rambharat also rejected Ayube’s claims. He said he has “absolutely no knowledge” of his members posting such criticism.
Rambharat said his team asks police to go and collect missing minors and he found it inappropriate to see the teen in wet clothes.
“Minors must never be portrayed as adults,” he said, and volunteers must know the Children’s Act and the Sexual Offences Act inside out.
“There are always families involved in missing persons. You always have to take into consideration the feelings of the family at all times,” Rambharat said.
Wider problem
While the Prime Minister said the police would establish the facts, she argued that the incident highlighted a wider problem involving missing-person reports and the resources required to respond to them.
“I think most citizens in this country are very unaware to the reality of the magnitude of dysfunctional behaviour in society,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She added that state security agencies and private search groups committed time and money and personnel to locating people who had reportedly disappeared but had voluntarily gone elsewhere.
“We could use these resources to search for actual legitimate disappearance cases,” she said.
The Prime Minister also had a message for those criticising the search team, challenging them to participate in search efforts themselves.
“My advice for those who are criticising is that they should go out and search for missing people themselves,” she said.
To the Hunters’ Search and Rescue Team, she offered support but urged it to take precautions in future.
“To the search team, continue your good work but learn from this incident to avoid future problems,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar also had a strong warning to teenagers.
“To teenagers, some of you want to act like adults, but as soon as the law intervenes, you revert to being a child. That’s not going to continue,” Persad-Bissessar said.
“If you want to behave or misbehave like adults, you will be treated like adults by the law.”
The Prime Minister warned of the consequences if lawlessness continued.
“This lawlessness and selfish attitude that has pervaded this country for decades has to end or we will end up like Haiti in a few years,” she said.
