PMV driver killed, services halted

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By PHOEBE GWANGILO and ALPHONE PORAU
BUS drivers and their crew suspended their services in Port Moresby yesterday to draw police attention to the killing of one of them on Tuesday.
They called on the Government to seriously look into police brutality.
Spokesman William Jackson told The National: “Police have been treating crews and bus drivers like animals.
“We are humans too and we play an important role in providing transport for employees, students and entrepreneurs.
“At the end of the day, we all contribute to the growth of this nation.
“If we have done something wrong, there is the law to correct us and law enforcers must deal with us as per the law.”
He said most of the drivers and crews had been victims of police brutality.
“We had been severely beaten, sworn at spat on,” Jackson said.
“Now one has been killed.”
He said they agreed to suspend the bus service in the city to show the police and the Government the chaos which would happen if the bus services were withdrawn.
Regarding the incident on Tuesday, National Capital District Metropolitan  Superintendent Benjamin Turi said police officers tried to rescue the bus driver after he was attacked by passengers and residents on Bisini Parade when he hit a pole.
Turi urged the PMV drivers to leave the matter to the police to investigate.
But the relatives of the deceased bus driver alleged that he died in the hands of police.
Creshier Newman said his brother Joe Sop from Hagen was last seen in a police vehicle after he was arrested and later found dead at Bisini.