Tension engulfs Poso after reverend shot dead

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.