Provincial police commander Micah Anawe said 22 people were in custody and would be charged soon.
He said more than 6,000 oil palm growers, who went on a protest that turned into a riot, were able to access their payments late last Friday and during the weekend. The situation is back to normal.
Anawe said last Friday at around 10 a.m., the oil palm growers had turned up in town to access their payments at the Bank South Pacific automatic teller machines.
“When their money was not in, they turned their frustration into a rampage, partly destroying the walls of the Growers Association office,” he said.
He said they also threw stones at the exterior of Bank South Pacific but the damage was not extensive.
He said most of the oil palm growers were blockowners and were annoyed because their payments did not go in early as expected and started protesting.
But Anawe said youths were to be blamed because they hijacked the situation and looted an Asian shop.
Other shops were also damaged with stones thrown by the crowd, but only slightly.
“Police personnel were at the scene but given the huge crowd, they refrained because they were outnumbered and could not identify the perpetrators,” Anawe said.
They were able to control the situation after they received backup from the Correctional Services.
Anawe said two men were reported to have been shot but police were still investigating this. The costs of damage to some of the shops are still not known.
