Lawless mob killings spark national outrage

Minister for Mining and Special Projects Rainbo Paita has condemned the brutal killing of three people in broad daylight in Lae.

Paita has called for the government to immediately intervene by enforcing the Vagrancy Act and renew debate on the death penalty.

The mining minister who is also the Member for Finschhafen, said the killings reportedly carried out by supporters of a lodge owner, were not just criminal acts but a direct assault on the peace and values of Papua New Guinea.

“What happened in Lae is not just an attack on individuals, it is an affront to the values we stand for as a province and as a nation,” Paita said.

“We can’t continue to call ourselves Christians, yet our thoughts and ways are too far from its guiding principles. The rule of law must be upheld. The Government must not take this matter lightly. The criminals responsible must face the full force of the law, and justice must be delivered to the grieving families.”

The killings occurred on Tuesday at 1-Mile in Lae, following a theft incident last Friday involving three drunken youths from a local district at Sky Lodge. In a reported act of retaliation, the lodge owner and his supporters allegedly used a vehicle to run down bystanders before hacking them to death with bush knives as they lay on the road.

One of the three victims was a Grade 7 student from Haikost Primary School, according to Lae Metropolitan Commander Chief Superintendent Chris Kunyanban.

“The situation remains tense. We have impounded the vehicle and arrested the lodge owner. The driver and another accomplice are still on the run,” Kunyanban said.

The public, already reeling from increasing violence in Lae, was left horrified by the level of barbarity in the killings carried out openly and without fear of police response.

The Morobe Provincial Administrator, Max Bruten, issued a strong statement condemning the killings, calling them a cowardly and inhumane act that cannot be accepted in a civil society.

“We must never take the law into our own hands,” Bruten said. “Police must immediately arrest all those involved. Lae is a city for all, not a battlefield for ethnic retaliation.”

Calling for the swift passing of the Vagrancy Act and a renewed debate on the death penalty, Paita stressed that enough is enough.

He also called on the judiciary to ensure uncompromising justice and urged Parliament to act swiftly to address urban ethnic violence threatening cities like Lae.