US-Sunnah Islamic Boarding School Destroyed By Residents, NTB Police Ask Residents To Calm

Head of Public Relations of the NTB Police, Kombes Artanto/ANTARA

MATARAM - The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional Police asked residents to remain calm regarding the action of an unknown group of people who damaged a number of facilities at the AS-Sunnah Islamic Boarding School (Ponpes) in Bagek Nyaka, Aikmal District, East Lombok, early on Sunday.

The Head of Public Relations of the NTB Police, Kombes Artanto, said the incident was suspected to be the result of the distribution of video clips that discredited a number of ancestral graves in Lombok.

"In the near future, we will take information from various parties regarding the problem, both the vandalism case and the video of the hate speech, entrusting the police to solve the case and the public to remain calm," he said, quoted by Antara, Sunday, January 2, 2022.

He explained that a number of community organizations (ormas) and residents had also visited the NTB Regional Police to submit reports regarding their objections to the remarks in the video.

For this reason, residents are expected to be calm and not take any anarchic actions that can interfere with the law enforcement process carried out by the police.

To maintain the security and social security at the As-sunah Bagik Nyaka Headquarters and the construction site for the Imam Asy Syafi'i mosque and the house of H Sunardi as the head of the mosque construction, extra security has been carried out from the Lotim Police and Brimob as well as maintaining the status quo of the crime scene.

In addition, Artanto said that his party will immediately raise public figures, religious leaders so as not to be provoked and strengthen security from the Sabhara Polres and the Lotim Brimob Company.

"We urge residents to remain calm, and do not take actions that can disrupt the process that we are carrying out," he said.