Soldiers claim medical students incited stand-off

 SOLDIERS from Taurama Barracks say University of PNG Medical Faculty students are responsible for inciting last weekend’s stand-off between soldiers and students.

A statement from the Taurama soldiers, hand-delivered by two of their colleagues yesterday, said the media had given a one-eyed view of events without getting their version.

“It is true that there are rogue elements within the PNGDF, but there are also rogue elements within the student body,” a soldier, who asked not to be named, said.

“The students have to come out and identify their rogue elements.

“Three soldiers have been arrested, but the Medical Faculty students who sparked the incident have not been arrested.”

The statement claimed the action of drunken students at the automated teller machine (ATM) at Port Moresby General Hospital last Friday night sparked the 

stand-off.

But the soldiers said because of reports, they were ostracised by the community and their wives and children were at risk.

“At 9pm last Friday, two uniformed soldiers were attending to an emergency, a soldier’s son being rushed to the hospital at 3-Mile,” the Taurama soldiers said.

“During their stay there, an argument erupted between the two soldiers and the drunken medical students.