8 killed, schoolgirls raped

By REBECCA KUKU
EIGHT people were killed and about 10 Bambu Primary School girls were raped when the Hetwara Gang attacked nine villages in Rai Coast’s Nankina valley last week.
They also burnt down houses, community leader Kevin Sandip said.
“The gang has since grown in numbers, recruiting more young men.
“Last week Wednesday and Thursday, they attacked Gwarawon which is the village surrounding the Nankina airstrip and where SIL missionaries work and has a population of about 1,200.
“The gang has recruited reinforcements in exchange for girls and pigs in the village. Villagers are fleeing in many directions.
“Big villages like Gwarawon, Miok, Pivin, Yopbo, Tariknan, Mabit, Sevan and Dakuwe do not have many people living there.
“The gangsters also went to the school, robbed the head teacher and raped several students in their classrooms. They also attacked the Tapen Primary School. This has been happening and we need the Government to take our pleas seriously,” he added.
Sandip said last week’s attack brought the number of damaged Rai Coast villages by the gang to nine.
“No area in the Nankina valley has been spared,” he added.
Sandip appealed to the MP, provincial government and the Government to address the ongoing law and order issue urgently and bring an end to the reign of the gang.
“This gang has killed people, injuring many and raped our women and girls.
“They have burnt down our homes and destroyed our gardens. Yet that is not enough. They rob us, taking our money, our pigs, whatever that we have .
“What will it take for the Government to listen to the people’s cry for help and intervene? We have lost many lives already, lives of our young girls and women have been also been destroyed,” he said.