The main shopping center of the Gerehu suburb in Port Moresby today fell to the hands of opportunists that broke in and stole everything, evening setting fire to them.
People, ranging from little children to teenagers to moms and dads, and even some elderly folks were seen running in and looting all of the shops, risking their lives stealing items ranging from food to white goods, and with no police in site to control the situation, people ran riot for over an hour.
The looting is part of a string of rampages and lootings in the capital city after some police officers without going through proper process to address their matter of concern, decided to take the matter into their own hands and stopped work today over what they claim is an additional increase in tax on their salaries.
The word of the police protest spread wild on social media platforms, triggering the opportunists to take advantage of the situation.
Police at Gerehu along with some security officers tried to intervene, but were outnumbered by the crowed and with no backup, they couldnt do much.
Meanwhile, witnesses claim that some police officers that initially arrived at the scene told the people to continue the looting and then just drove off.
The city of Port Moresby this afternoon is quite tense with people having to leave work early and run to the safety of their homes, and with no real presence of police on the streets, the question now is how soon will order return to the capital city of Papua New Guinea.
Ends//EM