Mind your own business, bystanders warned after attack on buses and taxis at Erima

National

By JACKLYN SIRIAS

PUBLIC should not retaliate over issues that do not concern them and destroy properties, Gordon Police Station commander Tobby Hamago says.
In this instance his comments were directed at opportunists from Erima who damaged about 25 vehicles in an act of revenge for a boy killed accidently by a PMV bus.
Hamago told The National that after a grade 4 student from Kupiago in Hela was  run over and killed by a PMV bus at Erima, opportunists took advantage and created havoc.
“There are ways to deal with people who break the laws and people should not take issues that do not concern them into their own hands,” he said.
The schoolboy was on his way to school when he was hit by a PMV bus at the Erima area. He died instantly.
“After the incident the public and street people – those who hang around under the Kumul Flyover at Erima – used this accident as an excuse to damage other vehicles,” Hamago said.
He said 16 buses and four taxis, at least, were damaged. Hamago condemned the behaviour of the opportunists.
“The opportunists threw sticks and stones on the windscreens of the vehicles and damaged them,” Hamago said.
“A couple of people inside the buses also received injuries from the stones and sticks that were thrown at them. Some  passengers also suffered injuries. We have not received a confirmed report.”
Hamago said the opportunists were saying that they were retaliating but “that was after the actual event happened and the families of the victim had brought the body to the station”.
“Most of those people that did the damage were opportunists who usually stand around under the Kumul Flyover at Erima. That area is an area of concern because a lot of the time when there is this kind of issue, people use it to attack vehicles and passers-by of the area.”
Hamago warned drivers and members of the public who travelled that way to take precautions.
“People who drive and walk around that area, especially mothers and girls, take precautions, walk in groups. People who stand around the cement and traffic areas or footpaths maybe opportunists looking to steal. Those people harass woman and girls and even men too,” he said.
Hamago urged authorities to look into the area to address the issue of overcrowding and loitering.
He warned parents not to let young children go to school unsupervised, particularly as Christmas was approaching and roads would be busy, with some people drinking and driving.