Jakarta –
Riots occurred in Wamena, Papua on Thursday, 23 February 2023. The incident reportedly killed 10 people and injured a number of TNI and police personnel.
So, what cause of the riots in Wamena? What’s the latest on the incident? Here’s the information.
Chronology of Riots in Wamena Papua
Head of Public Relations of the Papuan Police, Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo, recounted the beginning of the riot. The incident started when a grocery seller’s car was stopped by two residents in Sinakma, Wamena City, Jayawijaya Regency, Thursday (23/2/2023) around 12.30 WIT. The car was stopped on suspicion of kidnapping children.
“Then the information was received by the police. The Head of the Wamena Police immediately went to the scene of the incident to negotiate with the masses and then asked for this problem to be resolved at the Police,” said Benny, as reported by Antara. detikSulselThursday (23/2/2023).
When the negotiations were taking place at the Wamena Polres, a group of mob shouted and then attacked the members. This then sparked a mass struggle with the police.
“This was then responded to by asking for reinforcements from BKO Brimob and Kodim. From there, chaos could no longer be avoided,” said Benny.
Apart from attacking officers, the mob also set fire to stalls belonging to residents in Sinakma. The people around the scene of the incident were frightened and tried to save themselves from the angry mob.
“The person accused of kidnapping the child is currently being held at the Polres. At that time the mob also did not accept it and asked to let them go so they could be judged. Of course this is not justified,” he added.
A number of people carried out the attack in Wamena City, Jayawijaya Regency, Highlands Papua. This was done by burning a number of kiosks to attacking the police. The reason they did this was because there were rumors of child abductions.
10 People Killed, 18 TNI-Polri Personnel Injured
Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fahiri said that 10 residents died as a result of the riots. In addition, 14 residents were injured and 13 houses were burnt during the riots.
“So these 10 fatalities, two of them were victims of the rioters’ rampage. Then the other eight people were rioters,” said Faakhiri.
It was reported that 18 TNI-Polri personnel were also injured after the riot in Wamena.
“Regarding the incident in Wamena, there were 18 injured victims from the security forces, of which 16 of them were hit by stones and 2 people were hit by arrows, namely 1 police officer and 1 member of the TNI. And we have asked for this to be handled immediately,” said Faakhiri .
Child Abduction Issue Confirmed Hoax
After carrying out a series of investigations, the police confirmed that the child abduction issue was not true. The accusation of child kidnappers against the grocery car driver is not true, aka hoax.
“We know that yesterday’s incident in Wamena started with hoax information that conveyed that there had been kidnapping of minors, elementary school children, which members of the Jayawijaya Police responded to immediately handle,” said Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri to journalists in Timika, Friday (24/24). 2).
Fakhiri regretted the attitude of the masses for not heeding the Jayawijaya Police Chief’s request during the dialogue. The dialogue is colored by provocation.
“The efforts made by the Kapolres should be followed by the community to resolve issues that are developing at the Polres office, but the community still insists on continuing to mediate at the scene of the incident. So that when someone provokes it, an incident like this occurs,” he explained.
Conditions Already Conducive, Papua Police Chief Apologizes
The issue of child abduction is said to be cause of the riots in Wamena is a hoax. Now, the situation at the location of the riots is conducive. Nonetheless, tight security was maintained.
“Thank God, they are starting to recover,” said the Papua Police Chief, Inspector General Mathius D Fahiri, Friday (24/2/2023)
The riot in Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency, Highlands Papua, left 10 residents dead. Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fahiri also expressed his condolences and apologized for the deadly riot.
“As the Papua Regional Police Chief, he expresses his condolences and apologizes for the relatively large number of victims in Wamena City due to the rioting which resulted in rioting,” said Faakhiri to journalists in Timika, Friday (24/2/2023).
(kn/day)
