Waipo relives warders’ killings in B’ville crisis

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
CORRECTIONAL Services Commissioner Michael Waipo told yesterday of how six prison officers were killed by rebels who tried to storm a prison he was the commandant of in 1990 on Bougainville.
During the annual Correctional Services Remembrance Day at Bomana in Port Moresby yesterday, Waipo said the six were the first PNG prison officers to be killed in the line of duty.
The incident happened at Kuvere Prison on January 17, 1990, during the Bougainville crisis.
Waipo said the rebels surrounded the prison at around 11.45pm wanting to set the inmates free.
But he and others resisted the wave of attacks until 4am when the fight ended.
“Only the Lord knows how many rebels I killed that night,” he said.
Waipo said a rebel fired a shot at close range which just missed him.
“We fought off the rebels through the early hours of the morning (Jan 18, 1990) without communication and reinforcement from other security forces,” he said.
“By 8am, soldiers travelling to Panguna saw the smoke in the direction of the jail and rescued us.”
He said there were many heroic deeds that night by officers to save the families living inside the prison compound.
But it was unfortunate that six officers died during the fight.