Post Courier
SEVERAL candidates in Mt Hagen Rural LLG have
alleged that a rival candidate has mobilised his supporters and assaulted them.
The incident is said to have happened around the Mt Hagen court premises last Thursday afternoon.
Candidates Luke Mathew, Jacob Kop, Opa Brass Wak, William Maki and David Terry alleged that they were rounded up by armed supporters of a named candidate when they were trying to file a motion to set aside a previous order he obtained.
High-powered illegal firearms, bush knives, stones and sticks were used in the attacks in which Mr Maki was hit on his left leg in the scuffle; Brass Wak had his car damaged, while the others escaped unhurt.
A police unit was allegedly fired at too.
The candidates gathered at Airport Motel yesterday and condemned the actions of the leader and his supporters.
“This is the work of a desperate leader who is hell-bent on
clinging onto power. We ask the police to arrest him and his cohorts as he is a threat to the community,” expressed Mathew, on behalf of other aggrieved leaders.
Mathew said they have already lodged a complaint at Mt Hagen police station and asked the police to apprehend the suspect and his aides and confiscate their firearms.
Tensions are building in Mt Hagen as former chairman Wai Rapa and Mathew are claiming chairmanship of Wamp Nga Holdings.
Phone calls to provincial police commander Martin Lakari’s office went unanswered, but a senior police office confirmed a formal complaint was laid against the leader in the police daily occurrence book.
“Yes they laid the complaint in the OB,” said the officer without elaborating on any further details.
The incident is said to have happened around the Mt Hagen court premises last Thursday afternoon.
Candidates Luke Mathew, Jacob Kop, Opa Brass Wak, William Maki and David Terry alleged that they were rounded up by armed supporters of a named candidate when they were trying to file a motion to set aside a previous order he obtained.
High-powered illegal firearms, bush knives, stones and sticks were used in the attacks in which Mr Maki was hit on his left leg in the scuffle; Brass Wak had his car damaged, while the others escaped unhurt.
A police unit was allegedly fired at too.
The candidates gathered at Airport Motel yesterday and condemned the actions of the leader and his supporters.
“This is the work of a desperate leader who is hell-bent on
clinging onto power. We ask the police to arrest him and his cohorts as he is a threat to the community,” expressed Mathew, on behalf of other aggrieved leaders.
Mathew said they have already lodged a complaint at Mt Hagen police station and asked the police to apprehend the suspect and his aides and confiscate their firearms.
Tensions are building in Mt Hagen as former chairman Wai Rapa and Mathew are claiming chairmanship of Wamp Nga Holdings.
Phone calls to provincial police commander Martin Lakari’s office went unanswered, but a senior police office confirmed a formal complaint was laid against the leader in the police daily occurrence book.
“Yes they laid the complaint in the OB,” said the officer without elaborating on any further details.
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