What Started The Fight
■ Alleged assault of two girls, phones taken ■ Suspected instigator gave himself up to Police
It is understood that the brawl involving about 50 people in Mead Road, Nabua, during the Easter weekend started after two girls were assaulted and had their phones taken from them. On Sunday, a man believed to have been one of the main instigators in the brawl, surrendered himself at
the Nabua Police Station. Now, two men are in Police custody. Another two men, who were admitted with injuries at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, ran away from the hospital.
Fiji Sun has been reliably informed by Police sources that the man who surrendered himself is a known drug peddler, which raises questions whether the brawl was just a matter of assault and theft or was drug-pushing involved in the equation.
For now, the Police, through their community-based approach, have been able to maintain peace between youths from Mead Road and Nabua Village. ACP Abdul Khan said Police officers spoke to the factions, which were fighting and have managed to calm things down. He said Police also spoke with church and elders of Nabua Village last night.
Chronology of the brawl?
The first of the fights started on Friday night. Two girls were allegedly assaulted and their phones taken from them.
This alleged incident happened at Sukanaivalu Road where the suspected perpetrators were from Nabua Village. There was a retaliation to this incident after a band of young men showed up with knives, rods and bottles. This resulted in a fight at Sukanaivalu Road, just metres away from the Methodist Church.
Two people suffered injuries and had to be taken to hospital. There was also a major traffic jam at around 8pm on Friday. The men from Nabua Village retaliated a day later as they marched to Mead Road, armed with knives, bats, golf clubs and stones.
The young men and teenagers from the Mead Road housing involved in the fight on Friday night had either hid or gone elsewhere. The presence of Police with their mobile unit and fast action to call back up ended the tension.
However, later on Saturday night, the men from Nabua Village once again attempted to look for the gang from Mead Road involved in the incident on Friday.
Witness accounts
Intiaz Khan, a taxi driver at a base just next to the Mead Road housing, said if it was not for the Police on Saturday, a lot of people would have been hurt and some even killed.
He said members of the angry mob came into the taxi base but were told that they had nothing to do with their fight.
Mr Khan said it was perhaps also lucky that those involved in the fight on Friday were nowhere to be seen.
On Friday night, Joji Rasiga and Ben Lovecana watched the fight as the Mead Road men punched and assaulted the Nabua villagers.
They said this caused a traffic jam, which lasted for at least 15 minutes, as people fought.
They said there were men lying unconscious and fights happened in little pockets where two or three men overpowered one.
For now, the Police have calmed things down.