PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A student leader in Papua New Guinea has claimed a riot in Enga province was started by members of the public who were attacked by Police.

The police said students sparked the riot.

The students have been protesting for a month while demanding the PNG Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, step down to face corruption allegations.

They’ve been promoting their demand around the country through an awareness campaign, which they brought to Wabag, the capital of Enga, where the riot occurred.

A student leader, Youngsten Taliu Wally, said more than 15,000 people had gathered in Wabag for the awareness forum when about a hundred members of the police force started firing tear gas.

“It was only provoked when the police tried to stop the students’ awareness. They fired tear gas and all these things to stop but they were outnumbered,” said Wally.

“When all the police and people ran away the angry people got up and they stoned the BSP (Bank of South Pacific) building and the provincial centre building. Many shops around the town were destroyed and they were broken.”

Enga’s acting provincial police commander Chief Inspector Epenes Nili told the National newspaper that students staged the forum after he refused their request to hold the meeting on Thursday morning.

Nili said the crowd started throwing objects at his vehicle when he tried to stop the forum.

“They started hitting my vehicle before the opportunists joined in to cause damage to the bank with stones,” said Nili.

Meanwhile, 18 students arrested in Wewak for holding an awareness campaign have been bailed by the provincial governor and former PNG prime minister, Sir Michael Somare.

In another incident, PNG Today reports a group of students promoting awarness in Simbu province were shot at while driving between Kainantu and Kompri Valley

The vice president of Unitech’s student representative council, Robert Kerenga said no one was injured.

The People’s National Congress (PNC) party president, Gareth Kising, has expressed grave concern over what he says is early election campaigning by university students against Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the PNC.

He said the students had broken the law by engaging actively in early election campaign.

“Instead of returning to classes after presenting their petitions, students have now decided to travel to a number of provinces to continue their protests,’ Kising said.

“Under the guise of creating awareness on the issues they have raised, they are actively campaigning for the removal of the prime minister, to vote the prime minister and PNC Party out in the 2017 general elections.

“This is against the law and I call on the Chief Electoral Commissioner and the police commissioner to look into this.

“Such illegal and unlawful early election campaigns have the potential to provoke anger and violence among opposing political party supporters.

“Angry parents and relatives who expect their child to be in class and not playing politics may take matters into their own hands as well and create mayhem.

“I call on the police to act now to prevent potentially chaotic situation in some of the towns where such illegal campaigning is taking place.”

- RNZI/National