PNG mines minister shot at in Port Moresby
Port Moresby: Papua New Guinea Minister for Mining Johnson Tuke was shot at last Thursday after a National Executive Council meeting in Port Moresby.
Mr Tuke, in a statement, said it was through divine intervention and his quick response in the face of danger that saved him from being killed by criminals in Port Moresby who shot at him at point-blank range as he made his way back to the office after the scheduled NEC meet.
A very distraught minister stated that he was taken by surprise when a group of four men whom he took for ordinary drunkards suddenly turned on him as he was driving into Pruth Street at the popular roundabout in front of YWCA Hostel at 2-Mile Hill.
However, fortunately the bullet meant for him missed when he manoeuvred his vehicle at high-speed into Pruth Street and sped towards the Pacific View Apartments where the Ministry of Mining is located. “I was just returning from NEC on Thursday evening to pick up my bag and some documents from the office when I saw this group of four men, and I thought they were just some drunkards walking on the road, but as I drove closer, I realised that two of them had factory made guns and the other two had bushknives,” he said. “Everything just happened so fast and as the gunmen pointed towards me, I quickly reversed the vehicle at high-speed, which caused the front to lift and at this point the shot that was aimed at my head missed me and instead went right through the front right headlights.”
At this point the Minister said that he was unable to state whether the shooting was politically motivated or whether it was just a random shooting.
Meanwhile, Mr Tuke has called on the government to relocate him and his staff to a new location in the city because his officers too have gone through the same dilemma at the current location.