Locals give back 79 guns

By GABRIEL FITO
SOME sense of law and order has been restored in East Sepik’s Angoram district and its Yuat LLG area following two separate gun-surrender ceremonies recently.
The ceremonies saw 79 factory and home-made guns surrendered by people who pledged to work with police to ensure that law and order “is controllable”.
The ceremony at Angoram this month saw 26 guns  handed to police.
Yuat villagers last Thursday surrendered another 53.
Five inmates who escaped from Boram jail early this year while ser­ving sentence for robbery and wilful murder surrendered to police.
The surrender programme was part of a major police operation code-named Sukundimi Merona in the district following a surge in criminal activities in the township of Angoram and outlying villages.
Police moved into the district last month following concerns over serious law and order problems including the break-in and theft at the Angoram police station during Easter.
Community leaders in the Angoram and Biwat areas praised police for disarming the youths who have been terrorising innocent citizens.
Yuat LLG president Timothy Yangmari said the law and order problem had prevented government services from reaching the people.
Yangmari praised pro­vincial police comman­der Vincent Pokas for taking policemen into the district to disarm the youths.