Rochus Lokinap
| Rochus Lokinap | |
|---|---|
| Born | New Ireland |
| Occupation | military officer |
| Known for | helped thwart a coup in 1990 |
Rochus Lokinap was a military officer in Papua New Guinea. He held the rank of Brigadier General of the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces (PNGDF) and was the PNG Defence Commander, in March 1990 when Police Commissioner Paul Tobian tried to execute a coup against government of Rabbie Namaliu.[1] According to the Canberra Times Lokinap and Ted Diro, then Minister of State Security, rallied forces to thwart the coup.
In April 1991 critics scrutinized actions of the PNGDF on Bougainville Island, during a civil uprising.[2] Reporters sought to interview Lokinap, senior officer of the PNGDF, and he could not be found. According to Australia's Parliamentary Research Service Lokinap regarded Colonel Lima Dataona, the on-site commander in Bouganville, as a rival, and successful in arranging his replacement by his own candidate, Colonel Leo Niua.[3]
Lokinap was senior officer from 1987 to 1992.[4] He was the first senior officer who was not from Papua, being from New Ireland.[5] He was made a Commander of the British Empire on June 11, 1988.[6]
The PNGDF Rochus Lokinap will be named in his honour. It will be the PNGDF's second Guardian class patrol vessel, joining sister ship PNGDF Ted Diro. She is expected to be commissioned in late 2020 or early 2021.
References
- ↑ Keith Scott. In PNG a coup on the rocks, Canberra Times, 1990-03-16, p. 1. Retrieved on 2020-11-08.
- ↑ Norm Dixon (1991-04-24). PNG invades north Bougainville. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved on 2020-11-09. “In the days that followed, both Nuia and the commander of the PNGDF, Brigadier-General Rochus Lokinap, could not be located by the government, which claimed it did not know who ordered the action.”
- ↑ Niki Raath (1991-12-19). Moral Support? Australia's respons to Papua New Guinea's internal security problems. Parliamentary Research Service. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved on 2020-11-09. “Brigadier General Rochus Lokinap was reinstated he immediately and successfully demanded thereplacement of Dataona by Colonel Leo Nuia.”
- ↑ The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific (2004). Archived from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved on 2020-11-08.
- ↑ Military-Civil Relations in the Independent State. Australian National University. Archived from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved on 2020-11-08. “He was replaced by Colonel Rochus Lokinap. Lokinap was the first non-Papuan commander of the PNGDF, coincidentally coming from a village in Sir Julius Chan’s New Ireland electorate.”
- ↑ SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 11th JUNE 1988, London Gazette, 1988-06-11. Retrieved on 2020-11-08.