No fewer than 18 people have so far been killed in Papua New Guinea’s highlands, a region plagued by violence between local tribes and placed under ’emergency status’ by Prime Minister James Marape on Thursday.
According to the local police commander George Kakas, 13 men and five women were slaughtered on Tuesday close to the mining town of Porgera. It appears that the victims were killed using axes and machetes.
The rough jungles of the Enga region frequently witness violent fights between indigenous tribes, sometimes ending in mass murders, which are brought on by conflicts over territory, resources, or other disagreements.
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Tuesday’s violence was not believed to be linked to the country’s ongoing election campaign, according to PM Marape.
‘We have called our additional manpower from both military and police not just for Porgera but other areas that need special assistance,’ he said.
‘Porgera area is under an emergency status… the present killing is related to an ongoing tribal fight.’
Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom the controversial Benue State Governor, has openly called on the American government and the rest of the international community to hold the government of President Muhammadu Buhari accountable for the rising spate of violence in Nigeria.
Governor Ortom had made the call at the State Department, Washington DC while interacting with some of its officials.
He had also reiterated that President Buhari and his government should be held responsible if anything happens to him while citing the series of massive threats which he has been receiving and the attempt made on his life in March last year as signals that the Presidency and its conspirators are after him. He also pointed out that till date, those who attacked him have not been prosecuted.
He had also stated that he was at the State Department to present the traumatized Nigerian victims’ side of the story after discovering that wrong narratives were being circulated across the globe by the government of Buhari to shield itself from complicity.
