Tension engulfs Poso after reverend shot dead
Ruslan Sangadji and Irvan NR, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi
Tension returned to the troubled regency of Poso on Tuesday after unknown assailants shot a reverend and an academic in separate incidents. The Reverend Freddy Wuisan, died after he was shot in the chest, while Rosia Pilongo, the dean of the school of law at Sintuwu Maroso University, was badly injured after she was shot in the head and right hand.
The attack followed another gun attack on Saturday that killed Jhon Christian Tanalida, a resident at Kawua subdistrict in Poso regency.
The first attack on Tuesday happened at 2 p.m at Sintuwu Maroso University in Poso regency. Rosia Pilongo was walking out of the rector's building on Jl. Pulau Seram in the regency in the campus compound, when two people on a motorcycle fired shots at her. She was shot in the head and right hand and fell to the ground. The two quickly fled the area, while students and local residents rushed to her aid and took her to Poso Hospital.
Chief of Poso Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdi Dharma Sitepu confirmed the incident, saying that the victim was being treated at Poso Hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.
Only six hours after the shooting at Sintuwu Maroso campus, Poso regency was again rocked by another shooting. This time, the unknown assailants shot at a resident in Membuke subdistrict in Poso Pesisir district, some 30 kilometers west of Poso regency. The victim was Reverend Freddy Wuisan, who was shot at his chest behind Membuke Church. Local residents claimed that before the shooting they saw two people riding a motorcycle speeding in the direction of the church in Membuke subdistrict. Minutes later, they heard a gunshot, and when they rushed to the site of the incident, they saw two people on motorcycles fleeing the church compound. The residents checked the compound and found Reverend Freddy lying on the ground behind the church. He was already dead.
The situation in Poso regency was tense, as people gathered in several spots of the town after the separate incidents. They heard rumors that a man of Arab descent living in Gebang Rejo subdistrict near downtown Poso here was to being sought by police for his role in the incidents.
But, local leaders calmed them to prevent possible clashes between the police and local residents.
"Until 9 p.m local time, residents were still on the streets. Police could not arrest anybody as they feared it may worsen the situation," said Muhammad Buyung, an activist with a local youth organization.
People banging repeatedly on electricity poles added to tension in the troubled town of Poso.
Separately, a team of doctors at Poso Hospital was able to remove a bullet from Rosia's head, but she was still unconscious. Meanwhile, Abdi Dharma claimed that the police had identified three people involved in the shooting on Saturday. He refused to name them, but said that they were Poso residents and the police were pursuing them.
In a separate development, a military truck, packed with 23 military personnel, overturned on Tuesday night on a street in Tambarana subdistrict in Poso Pesisir district. The incident injured 10 military soldiers. They were on their way from Poso to Membuke subdistrict, to safeguard the subdistrict after the shooting of Reverend Freddy.