Sepik, Chimbu students call for peace at Taraka

THE Sepik and Chimbu students unions at  the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) have made a united call to their colleagues at Lae’s Unitech for peace and allow  the law to take its course.
 The call was made after the death of a Unitech student last week during a fight between Sepiks and Chimbus.
 UPNG SRC vice-president Perkins Namba conveyed the message during at the Waigani campus last  Friday.
Namba appealed to the conflicting students to let the law prevail and that  classes resume peacefully.
He also condemned the killing saying that students as intellectuals should address issues through proper channels and resolve them in a more mature way.
He conveyed condolences to the family and friends of the late Melton Maniura and urging Unitech students to seek a peaceful solution to the matter.
“I strongly condemn the brutal killing and those responsible must face the full force of law,” he said.
Meanwhile,  UPNG’s East Sepik and Chimbu Student society leaders jointly condemned the ethnic violence in the strongest possible terms.
Chimbu student society president Peter Daime said it was an unfortunate turn of events that led to the death of the student and urged all students to learn to respect one another.
A spokesman for the East Sepik students society said  that such ruthless behaviour was criminal and needed the immediate action by police in apprehending the suspects.
Currently, the Sepik and Chimbu students at UPNG and the UPNG SRC together with the whole student body, stood united against all forms of ethnic violence in all higher learning institutions in the country.
The two groups called for:
*Political leaders to intervene and restore peace   among the students involved in the ethnic clash;
*A proper police investigation  into the incident;
*The Unitech administration and student leaders to explain why the matter went out of hand under their administration;
*The ringleaders to be penalise; and
*Normal classes to resume.