The warning was sent via families, traditional leaders and telephone numbers provided by the gendarmerie to the ten people still wanted by the police and who are currently hiding among the population of the Saint-Louis tribe, south of Noumea. If they do not give themselves up, they will end up being arrested during one of the special operations carried out every night or almost every night, in particular by the Intervention Group of the National Gendarmerie (GIGN). With the risks that this entails.
In the early hours of Thursday, September 19, Samuel Moekia, 30, and Johan Kaidine, 29, died in this pro-independence stronghold, during exchanges of fire with the police, several sources confirmed to the newspaper. Worldbringing the number of deaths to thirteen since the start of the violence in May. They are suspected of being among the perpetrators of some 330 shots fired by the gendarmes on the road that passes in front of the tribe since the start of the unrest and of having participated in some sixty “car theft”armed vehicle robberies, which have been occurring in the same location since June.
These events led the authorities to close 6 kilometres of road in mid-July and to deploy 150 gendarmes who are constantly monitoring people coming and going: returning home on foot – only emergency vehicles are allowed to pass – according to the residents of Saint-Louis, identification must be presented. Transporting petrol or gas cylinders is prohibited. Residents of the south of the archipelago, i.e. 10,000 people, must take sea shuttles to reach Noumea.
“Traps”
These drastic measures are justified “due to the insecurity at the Saint-Louis intersection”explains General Nicolas Matthéos, commander of the gendarmerie in New Caledonia. On May 15, south of the tribe, on the La Coulée bridge, a young gendarme aged 22, Nicolas Molinari, was killed by a shot to the head.
The police are said to be up against a handful of activists, known to the courts for common crimes, aged between 20 and 40, determined to fight the gendarmes even if it meant losing their lives, estimates General Mattheos. Like their leader, Rock Victorin Wamytan, known as “Banana”, killed on July 10 by a sniper while taking refuge in the Saint-Louis mission, from where he was shooting at the gendarmes, according to the first information from the investigation. “For me, carjackings are traps designed to attract the police. The goal, He assures, is to kill one of our own to avenge the death of William Decoiré. »
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