By: Dodik Prasetyo *
The Indonesian National Police Headquarters responded to the threat of attacks from the Armed Criminal Group (KKB) in Nduga Papuan. The National Police considered that the ultimatum delivered by Egianus was a provocation ahead of the election. Head of the Public Information Bureau of the Public Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police, Brigadier General Dedi Prasetyo, assessed that the armed group’s actions led by Egianus were provocative before the General Election. The police, ensure security in Nduga awake nearing the day of the election.
Dedi also said that he had installed alert status 1 in anticipation of armed group attacks there. He guaranteed that the existence of law enforcement officers would always bring a sense of security to the people of Nduga in their activities.
“So that people are calm in their activities. That is the guarantee of the TNI Polri there, we have anticipated this position, “he said.
Dedi appealed to those who sympathized with the Egianus group not to fight. Even if he is proven to have committed a violation, he hopes that they can account for his actions.
Nevertheless, Dedi believes that the support from the Nduga community to Egianus is only part of propaganda. On the contrary, he claimed the apparatus approach received appreciation from the local population.
“That’s part of their propaganda and it’s very far from the actual facts,” said Dedi convincingly.
Egianus Kogoya is one of the leaders of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) who is active in guerrilla in the Nduga region, Papua. Recently, Egianus delivered an ultimatum through a Facebook account belonging to the West Papua National Liberation Army – the Free Papua Organization (TPNPB – OPM)
In the 7-point ultimatum, Egianus stressed that his group would continue to wage a fire of war until Indonesia recognized Papua’s independence. One of the threats spread by this group was asking non-Papuan civilian soldiers to leave Nduga’s land if they did not want to be attacked. At present, the police and other stakeholders focus on efforts to foster the community in the social and educational fields through Noken Binmas.
They take a persuasive approach to the people of Papua to improve the intelligence and skills of the local community. “With Binmas Noken we conduct training for agriculture, animal husbandry, and assisting teachers,” said Dedi.
In addition, the National Police Headquarters also extended the duty of the Papua Task Force until the 2019 election was over. This was done to anticipate disturbances in public security and order, and to minimize and mitigate threats from the attacks of the Papua Armed Criminal Group (KKB).
“Extended until the election is over, do not let any more events result in the death of members of the Indonesian National Police,” said Dedi
He continued, the Papua Task Force had enforced the law to deal with threats from armed groups such as arresting through perpetrators to confiscating weapons ammunition.
Still in his ultimatum, Egianus also said that human hair is straight, white skin is the main enemy. The threat was conveyed because he assessed that many men / women TNI / Polri members who had been disguised as mothers of Gurum sisters and builders even taxi drivers.
Commander, Military District (Dandim) 1702 / jayawijaya, Lieutenant Infantry Colonel Candra Dianto suspected some residents of Nduga regency in Papua Province who were still in the forest joined the Armed Criminal Group.
As is known, after the shooting of the TNI with the KKB which erupted violently in December 2018, a number of residents ran to the forest and hills, avoiding gun contact. Candra assessed that a number of people who had not returned to the village had thought of being opposed to the NKRI.
“If they don’t want to go back, those who have thoughts are at odds with this country,” said Candra.
Candra said Nduga’s situation was conducive. He said, 99 percent of the residents of Mbua and Yigi Districts who had fled to the wilderness had returned to the villages to do their usual activities.
Candra said that until now there were no prominent things such as the shootout between the KKB and the authorities, and the TNI / Polri carried out approaches with the community to eliminate post-traumatic trauma when they shot some time ago.
On the other hand, the construction of the bridge has been running for almost 2 weeks. General Bina Marga Sugiyarto in a press conference at his office revealed that according to President Joko Widodo’s direction, the contractor PT Istaka Karya continued to carry out the work of the Trans Papua project. Meanwhile, security matters were left to the TNI apparatus and were the responsibility of the TNI Commander.
“The contract continues, only the settlement is delayed. The service provider in question still wants to complete, “he said.
With the continuation of the work, Sugiyartanto estimates that the bridge construction project will be completed in the next 6 months.
The PUPR Ministry targets to build 35 bridges on the Trans Papua route.
This was done to improve connectivity so as to facilitate the flow of logistics in the area. A total of 11 bridges were constructed by Istaka Karya and the remaining 25 bridges were carried out by PT Brantas Abipraya.
The terror that has been carried out by the KKB poses a serious threat to the sovereignty of the NKRI and the course of development programs in Papua which are being promoted by the government. The problem of the circulation of illegal weapons used by irresponsible individuals is certainly a homework for Indonesian intelligence. this certainly must be investigated from where it originated. Gun smuggling is very easy. It’s easy to get military standard weapons everywhere.
The terrorist acts by the KKB certainly must be resolved in an integrated manner, the most fundamental problem that exists is Social Justice. This certainly must be built especially in terms of the human development index.
- The author is a Contributor to the Indonesian Strategic Information Study Institute