4 killed in road violence

The National Main Stories

By MIRIAM ZARRIGA
THREE men travelling to Port Moresby along the Hiritano Highway yesterday were killed in what police suspect was in retaliation to the death of a Central man on Wednesday night.
Police in Port Moresby and Central are bracing themselves for any outbreak of ethnic clashes in areas around the capital city, and are increasing their presence along the highway.
Asst Police Comm Anthony Wagambie Jr, the police commander in charge of the National Capital District and Central, confirmed that a man from Goilala in Central was killed on Wednesday night at a place called Maetins by men in a bus believed to be from the Highlands.
“Police were informed of the (Wednesday) incident and a unit from Central managed to stop the bus along the highway,” ACP Wagambie said.
He said only the driver was arrested as the others fled.
“He will assist police in identifying those involved,” he said.
Police in Central reported that there had been an altercation between bus passengers and some men from Goilala between 6pm and 7pm on Wednesday on the highway, leading to the man’s death.
Police managed to remove the road-blocks erected by the families of the man.
But yesterday morning, the three men allegedly from highlands were attacked near the Doa Police Station in a vehicle while they were travelling to Port Moresby.
Traffic flow on the highway was affected as police tried to take control of the situation.
“I have directed PPC Central Chief Insp Tapp Opai to ensure that this matter is dealt with immediately,” ACP Wagambie said.
“I appeal to people living along the Hiritano Highway, especially the Goilala people, to allow a free flow of traffic.
“The highway belongs to everyone.
“There are many people stranded on both sides.
“Police will maintain presence in the area and after a thorough assessment, vehicles will be allowed to travel, with police remaining in the area.”
He said people from Kairuku, Mekeo, Beraina and Gulf who used the highway daily were being affected.
ACP Wagambie said police were investigating what happened on Wednesday night that led to the death of the Goilala man.
“I appeal to our communities and leaders in NCD to ensure peace prevails,” he said.
“Allow police to deal with the situation.”
“I have directed Metropolitan Superintendent NCD to have police units patrol areas where these ethnic groups live to prevent any more violence.
“I want to urge the public in NCD to be aware that (the violence) may be spill over into the city.”
He said the province of the three men killed had not been confirmed.
“We expect more information once relatives come forward after identifying the deceased,” ACP Wagambie said.

26 comments

  • We PNGians are way back regarding this type of scenarios… I’m sick and tired of reading people killing each other within our Country.
    Who knows if more innocent would be victimized because of this…

  • Please respect life… it is a precious one and only gift from the Creator God.
    This is an inhuman act done by a disrespectful person.

  • People think that they can kill anybody from another province or anyplace anywhere without realizing the repercussion, now we see three innocent people being killed, find those people in that bus and send them to the dark cell for a year.

  • Those on the bus should have taken that central man to the police if he has done something wrong rather than killing him and expecting nil reaction and to those who have retaliated and killed those three innocent life, they also should be taken to the dark cell and placed there for a year.

  • People with malfunctioning brains instigate problems. They qualify their rights to be called animals. Why don’t we let peace prevail in our day to day business of peacefully using the highways? In all physical laws, it says, ‘To every action, there is a reaction’, so do not justify by asking for compensation!!!

  • Senseless killing of innocent lives needs to stop. We cannot talk law into our own hands. Let the Police carry out their work so that those responsible be dealt with according to the law.

  • At times I wonder who is an animal and who is the intellectual being God created to be the majestic ruler of all creations. Animals kill for a reason…. the prey is the food to sustain the livelihood in the animal kingdom…. Humans????? What is the justification of our killings???
    We human have forgotten to live in harmony with each other on the face of this planet like other animals do.

  • Looks like the 21st century has not reach us yet…the way we go about killing each other. GOD Almighty help us civilize…Amen.

  • This is clear indication and interpretation of the weakest law of our Nation PNG. Effect blong dring susu blong mama yet na kisim independence–ehehe..

  • Killings for very trivial reasons are becoming a norm. The safe communities we want to create and raise our families are not guaranteed. Barbaric killings must STOP. It seems that evil has taken over compassion, love and understanding. We were once peace loving respectful, where have we gone wrong and allowed evil to creep into our lives

  • One act of killing a person has resulted in the death of three innocent people. They are human beings. Ol no save m lastpla time blo ol lo lukim family blo ol na ol kam na painim die blo ol.
    Larim ol police wokim wok blo ol. God givim peace lo hearts blo ol family blo ol displa man bin painim die blo ol. RIP.

  • Read the story and discuss the situation as an educated elite person. A group of men from Central attacking a man from Central and got him killed in a bus owned by a Highlands man. The killers (Central men) escaped and the three innocent Highlanders who were in the bus got killed. This type of situations happens and left us thinking what is happening to us as people of this great country. The Highlanders daily travel to Bereina, Iokea, lesse villages, malalaua and Kerema town to buy buai. This helps my cousins to earn money to pay school fees and buy soap and clothes. Buai is like coffee to us, we relie very much on them. They are friendly and do business with us head on. Few things we learned from the Highlanders, hard working, negotiation, making money, sharing, funny and cranky but the focus is buying and selling and be in business. There’s no need for hatred speech, as this will not help us to share and learn from each other.

  • The sad thing is that these 3 innocent people were just killed right in front of the Doa police station and it was just like a movies everyone watching without any intervention. They didn’t even know anything about past incident involving death of Goilala man.Really sorry for them.

  • Our laws are so weak murderers, rapist and many other offenders get away easily. What is wrong with our death penalty law?

  • PNG stop calling yourself a Christian country as it is a totally false perception just like the USA. A christian is not a country but individuals who have total and continuous commit to Christ and live life accordingly.

  • Its easy to kill and get away with little punishment or no punishment at all because our Laws for such cruelty are too weak and shallow. Government really need to look into upgrading some of our Laws that we’ve been using for the past years and nothing has changed. No wonder every body wanna be a parliamentarian because they know that they can do anything evil and will still get away . Bottom line is , our LAWs are outdated and doesn’t really protect anyone.

  • STOP! Think and make your commentaries. There no point aggravating the issue. Let the law deal with lawlessness. We like to blame ethnicity or tribalism for such occurrences.

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