Police receives two reports of attempted abduction incidents, warns of spreading false information

By Sharon Nanau

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) has so far received two formal reports of attempted incidents of alleged abduction in Honiara.

The two incidents occurred at the Betikama school and Kukum SDA school a few days ago.

Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau told a media conference that there are no confirmed incidents of abduction or kidnapping to date.

“The two reports filed to us are one at the Betikama school and Kukum SDA school.”

“These are the only two reports received by police, these are attempted kidnap cases,” he said.

Below:

Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau speaking to the local media.

Police over the weekend detained two vehicles and arrested five individuals following an operation into alleged incidents of child abduction in Honiara.

Mangau said investigation is currently underway to see if the arrests made are connected to the alleged incidents.

“There are two vehicles being detained because of the investigation, as long as it is clear we will release them back to their owners but there are five who were arrested when we responded to this matter, three were released and two were charged for other related offences. 

“Investigation will try to identify if there is a connection to the posts on social media or not. Other arrests were carried out from Friday till Saturday morning but for anti-social behavior,” he said. 

The Police Commissioner said rumors circulating on social media platforms about abduction and kidnapping incidents has caused panic among the public. 

He warned that police will charge those found to be spreading false information. 

“Because of the rumors, a lot of the information is misleading our people on social media. This has created anxiety in our communities. We are investigating social media posts containing information that they are being attacked by armed people. If found to be false we will be charging those persons. It is an offense under the law,” he said.  

Meanwhile, residents were advised to continue with their normal business as usual. 

Operation to remove dark tints from public vehicles

In a move to restore confidence among the public following unconfirmed reports that a dark tinted vehicle was allegedly used to abduct children, the RSIPF and Honiara City Council (HCC) will commence an operation on Tuesday to remove dark tints from public vehicles.

Mangau said fines will be imposed on vehicles found to have dark tinted glasses during the operation under the relevant HCC ordinance.

“Public transport vehicles with tinted glasses will be fined and removed from the Honiara roads. This is to clear some of our concerns, doubts and suspicions which were built by the current situation.Those are public transports. There are ordinances under the city council which require enforcement agencies to enforce them so we will be supporting Honiara City Council tomorrow to enforce their ordinance,” explained 

 Mayor Eddie Siapu said the decision to remove dark tinted vehicles from the roads was agreed during an executive meeting on Friday.

“I am happy to share that I have held discussions with the Attorney General office on the decision reached by my executive last week. HCC enforcement officers will work closely with RSIPF to carry out our ordinance,” he said. 

Attorney General John Muria Jr. added that they are working with HCC and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development to establish fines for any non-compliance.

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