Uni unaware of march, says Mann

THE University of Papua New Guinea says it has no knowledge of the students’ protest march that resulted in police shooting some of them on Wednesday.
Students were confronted and shot by police when they tried to march peacefully to Parliament as part of their class boycott and protest to demand Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to step down.
Acting chancellor Dr Nicholas Mann said the council of UPNG and the administration were not given any notice of the protest march to parliament by the Students Representative  Council on Wednesday, which is deemed illegal.
“Further, there was no permission granted to these students and other members of the public by the peace and good order committee to conduct the protest march,” Mann said.
“University’s jurisdiction stops when students left the campus and when they are outside, the police are the ones responsible for public safety. I understand there has been negotiations between the police and the students and police did what they had to do and the university doesn’t have any say on that.”
Mann said the council could not condone or condemn the police actions as “they are trained to do that and I know there will be a commission of enquiry into that incident”.
“I am appealing to the students, parents, sponsors, provincial leaders to work together with the university to restore normalcy and students can resume classes,” he said.