Despite reports of deaths after clashes at a university in Port Moresby, embattled prime minister Peter O’Neill says students were only injured

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Police in Papua New Guinea have reportedly killed four people after “firing directly” into a crowd of student protesters in its capital, Port Moresby, as long-running anti-corruption protests descended into violence.

Opposition MPs told parliament that four students had been killed and seven injured in the incident on Wednesday, but the government insisted the demonstrators were only injured and that police fired only warning shots.

Students on the campus of the University of Papua New Guinea had been protesting and boycotting classes for five weeks, demanding that the prime minister, Peter O’Neill, resign over corruption allegations that have dogged his government for two years.

PNG police shooting: four reported dead after officers fire on student rally – latest Read more

But the peaceful on-campus protests erupted into violence when armed police prevented students from boarding buses to take them to parliament house early on Wednesday.

The police then fired at the crowd and officers reportedly moved in to arrest the president of the student union, Kenneth Rapa.

Video shows dozens of shots ringing out, as students flee from the protest. Smoke rises from the area and students can be heard screaming.

Gerald Peni, a student, told the ABC that police “fired shots directly at the crowd … and many of the students fell, they got injured”.



Other students reported that police were chasing protesters and firing at them in the suburbs of Port Moresby.

One student, Janet Morley, posted on Facebook: “I’ve never been in this type of fear before. Gun shots, girls crying and screaming here and there, students skeeted everywhere! Where is this nation heading to! God help us.”

But O’Neill was defiant in response. In a statement he said no students had been killed and that only five had been injured.

He said the “blood of the injured students” was on the hands of politicians and “criminal elements” who had supported the protests, and that students who had spent weeks protesting for his resignation would now have to “face the consequences of their low grades”.

A warrant for O’Neill’s arrest on corruption charges was issued in 2014, but the prime minister has dodged questioning and arrest since then. The national police’s anti-corruption unit was shut down earlier this year, just as it was about to question O’Neill. A judge ordered it be reopened.



On Wednesday, students planned to catch buses from the university campus in Waigani area of the capital to protest at parliament house during a sitting on Wednesday. The demand O’Neill stand down while the allegations are investigated.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters gather outside a hospital in Port Moresby. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

A man at the Port Moresby protests, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian much of the capital had been shut down. The Gerehu market near the university had closed, as had local shops. The man said he had heard reports of looting and further shootings.

Several hundred mothers, their faces daubed with mud in mourning, later marched on the streets of the capital and the unrest quickly spread across the country.

“In Lae, the second largest city in PNG, the university of technology students have burned government vehicles and buildings,” the man at the Port Moresby protests said. “In settlements in Port Moresby, government cars are getting stoned and burned. Buses have stopped operating and so has the taxi service as well.”

The city’s general hospital said 10 students had been admitted. A hospital official told Reuters that after the injured were brought in, clashes erupted between police and members of the public outside.



“There is also shooting going on, open gunfire,” the hospital official added.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A police officer gestures to students from the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby. Photograph: Pngfm News/AFP/Getty Images

O’Neill said an inquiry would be established in coming weeks to investigate the students’ demands, but also to examine how violence broke out.



“We will set up a commission of inquiry to establish what is going on at the University of Papua New Guinea,” he said.



Asked in parliament whether he would be stepping down, O’Neill responded: “Stepping down for what? The question is about the warrant of arrest as to why we have to run and get a warrant without even conducting an interview at the first place.”

He added that everyone in PNG was “innocent until proven guilty”.

In a statement, O’Neill said that no students had died in the confrontation which he said was provoked by the demonstrators.

“The facts relayed to me are that a small group of students were violent, threw rocks at police and provoked a response that came in the form of tear gas and warning shots. The factors that led to students being injured are yet to be ascertained.”

O’Neill said the protests were encouraged and funded by “people with political agendas”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest A damaged police vehicle in Port Moresby. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

“This protest and the factors that led to the incident today have been driven by people who are not students. This is now a law and order issue. We must obtain the facts and ensure this does not happen again in the future.

“I call on parents to be calm and speak with your children who might have been on campus today. People around the nation, parents, provincial and district administrations and importantly, the majority of students who simply want to go to class have had enough.”

Papua New Guinea: four students reported dead after police open fire on march Read more

O’Neill said students who had been protesting should go back to class.

“Those who were already failing their classes and were hoping to have the semester suspended will have to face the consequences of their low grades.



“To the students, I remind you that your parents, and in many cases, your districts, provinces and our government have given you the privilege of an education. You need to respect this opportunity and complete your education so that you can contribute to society.”

O’Neill is accused by PNG police’s Taskforce Sweep of acting corruptly in allegedly authorised the payment of $30m of fraudulent legal bills to the law firm Paul Paraka.



The country’s parliament has now been adjourned until 2 August.