Porgera warring clans agree to stop fighting, live in peace

TWO warring clans in Porgera, Enga, have agreed to stop fighting and allow peace to prevail in the valley.
Porgera crisis law and order management committee team coordinator Nickson Pakea said members of the Normali and Aiyala clans agreed to peacefully co-exist.
The agreement was witnessed by Porgera Magistrate Nancy Lipai and government officials.
Last July, a fight between the two clans resulted in a number of deaths which included women and children. At one stage, 18 people, including an elderly, men, women and children, were slaughtered within two hours.
It resulted in the closing down of schools, the Paiam Hospital, and the Bank South Pacific branch.
Pakea said the committee was formed by the Porgera Chamber of Commerce, Porgera Women in Business, Porgera Station commander, PNG Defence Force, Porgera churches and government officials to facilitate peace between the two clans.
“Other underlying issues of the conflict will be channelled through the legal and customary systems between the two clans to reach a settlement,” Pakea said.
The initial fight between the two clans was in February, 2021, in neighbouring Kairik village, allegedly over land ownership.