Five men from Laiagam and Kandep in Enga have been formally charged with threatening, obstructing, and assaulting a member of the police on Tuesday in Hohola, Port Moresby, while the police officers were attending to a complaint.
The Commander of the National Capital District and Central Provinces, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Benjamin Turi, confirmed that the five men, four of whom are from Laiagam and one from Kandep, committed several offenses against the police officers during the day while they were doing their job.
He said one of the suspects, who flew in from Enga, assaulted a senior member of the Hohola Police Station by tearing off his police uniform and also fought with the other police officers who were responding to a complaint against him.
Commander Turi said that when the police officers saw that, they had used reasonable force, apprehended him and brought him to Hohola Police Station, where he was detained.
After detaining him, four others went to the police station demanding that the police officers release him. They argued with the police station commander, threatened him, and were demanding that the police officers release the one they had detained. He said that when the police officers saw this, they arrested the four and detained them.
The five were later formally charged with different offenses and were detained in a cell to appear in court when their court files are ready.
“The actions of the men are totally unacceptable in my command. Tearing the uniforms of the police officers while performing their duty is very serious; even arguing with on-duty police officers at the police station while they are doing their job is also wrong. Port Moresby is the capital city of Papua New Guinea, and if someone is found to be disrespecting the police officers, we will not take it lightly but will deal with them accordingly,” Turi said.
Commander Turi further added that, according to the initial report from the police, the men were at one of their late relative’s residences in Hohola Five, trying to remove the deceased’s wife and children from where they were residing to claim that land.
He said that while doing this, the wife reported the matter to the police, who went to the scene to attend to the complaint when one of the men yelled at the police officers, telling them to move out.
“The police officers explained to them, advising them to go to the police station to resolve the matter, but they were very aggressive. One of them then put up a fight, which resulted in him tearing the police officer’s uniform,” ACP Turi said in a statement.