Jayapura, Jubi – A teenager killed during a police operation in Dogiyai and later identified by security forces as a member of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) was in fact a high school student, according to a local civil society representative.

Benny Goo of Papuan People’s Solidarity in Dogiyai told Jubi by phone on Monday (May 11, 2026) that Nopison Tebai, 17, was an active student at SMAN 2 Dogiyai, enrolled in Grade XI Social Sciences with National Student Identification Number (NISN) 0079405733.

“Nopison Tebai was purely a student of SMAN 2 Dogiyai,” Goo said.

According to Goo, the shooting occurred on Sunday (May 10, 2026) in Dogimani Village, Dogiyai District, when police personnel conducted a sweep operation in the area at around 8:45 AM local time.

At the time, Tebai and several other youths were gathered at a field behind the Dogiyai District Office near the border between Idadagi and Dogimani villages. Goo said the field had recently been used for fundraising football and volleyball tournaments.

He explained that Tebai and several committee members had spent the night in a tent guarding the area after staying awake overnight.

“Because he had not slept during the night, he was still asleep that morning,” Goo said.

Goo alleged that police opened fire during the sweep operation, prompting the youths at the field to flee.

He said Tebai woke up after hearing gunshots, but by then his friends had already run away.

“As he started running, a stray bullet hit him in the chest and exited through his back, killing him instantly,” Goo said.

Following the shooting, Goo said police personnel returned to the Polres Dogiyai headquarters, while local residents and the victim’s relatives transported Tebai’s body to the family home.

Jubi attempted to contact Dogiyai Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Denis Arya Putra through phone calls and text messages, but received no direct response.

Instead, the police chief forwarded several news reports containing statements he had issued shortly after the incident.

In those statements, Denis Arya Putra said the operation was launched in response to a series of security disturbances along the Nabire–Enarotali trans-road corridor, including shootings targeting civilian vehicles and acts of vandalism by unidentified individuals.

According to the police chief, personnel from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Task Force Resimen III were conducting routine patrols and sweep operations in the Kali Kasuari and Idadagi areas when they allegedly came under fire from an armed group in Idadagi Village.

Police officers then returned fire and fatally shot one individual suspected of belonging to the armed group.

“Because our personnel came under fire from an armed group, officers carried out firm and measured action and neutralized the perpetrator. The deceased is suspected to be a member of the TPNPB-OPM Kodap XI Odiyai Dogiyai Battalion 03 Degeianouda named Napison Tebai,” Denis Arya Putra said on Sunday (May 10, 2026). (*)