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Colonel admits knowing about mystery
passenger
By JULIA DAIA BORE
THE ninth “invaluable” civilian on the PNG
Defence Force CASA that delivered fugitive Julian Moti and two Solomon
Islanders to the Solomons on Oct 10 last year was an East Sepik man,
PNGDF joint operations commander Col Vagi Oala told the PNGDF Board of
Inquiry last Friday.
Col Oala’s admission of knowing a ninth passenger aboard the aircraft
was in direct contradiction of evidence he gave earlier.
The PNG Defence Force Board of Inquiry chaired by Justice Gibbs Salika
was hearing Col Oala’s testimony for the second time.
In an earlier hearing, Col Oala testified under oath that there were
only eight passengers on the aircraft that spirited Moti to the Solomon
Islands.
During cross examination last Friday, Col Oala admitted there was
another civilian on board the aircraft.
When grilled at the hearing, he told the inquiry that when it came to
his notice that there was a civilian “invaluable” on board, he had asked
who this person was and what was he doing there.
The answer he had received from the civilian who “did not speak very
much”, was “Paps told me to get on board”.
Col Oala said when he asked who “Paps” was, the answer from the civilian
was that “Paps” was “Assaigo”, a reference to Joseph Assaigo, the
suspended director-general of the National Security Advisory Committee.
The civilian told Col Oala that Mr Assaigo told him to go on the flight
to Solomon Islands.
When asked how the “invaluable” passenger had got on board the CASA, Col
Oala said he had no knowledge of when and how and even why he was on the
flight.
He said when they arrived in Port Moresby, he dropped the civilian off
at the Gordon market, but insisted he did not know his name. When
pressed, he said the loadmaster should know because that was his job.
This provoked inquiry chairman Justice Salika to respond: “Colonel, here
we are, we are all not small boys. Are you really trying to test our
intelligence? Are you telling us we cannot put one and one together?”
Justice Salika told Col Oala that according to the account given by Lt
Col Ron Hosea last Wednesday, the mysterious ninth passenger was dropped
off at the Murray Barracks car park, which contradicted his testimony.
“So, Colonel, who is telling the truth?” asked counsel assisting the
inquiry John Kawi. There was no response. Mr Kawi put it to Col Oala
that he obviously knew the passenger and yet continued to tell blatant
and pathetic lies.
 
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