PORT MORESBY — Papua New Guinea security services called for calm Monday, as incidents of rioting and looting followed the death of a beloved former prime minister.
Police Minister William Onglo warned officers would “step in to fully restore order” after disturbances in Port Moresby and the second city of Lae.
Several stores were reportedly ransacked during a national day of mourning for the country’s first prime minister and “father of the nation” Sir Michael Somare, whodied of pancreatic cancer on Friday.
“Rioting is never our Melanesian way to show respect,” Onglo said in a statement.
Somare’s daughter Dulciana decried reports of “looting and property being destroye…
Keep on reading: Looting follows death of Papua New Guinea ex-PM