Leo Nuia was an officer in the

Papua New Guinea Defence Force The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into be ...

. In 1991, when he was a

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, he replaced Colonel

Lima Dataona Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

as local commander on

Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area is ...

, during a civil uprising. ''

Security Challenges Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted Coercion, coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons an ...

'' described him as a ''"hardliner"''. It said he led an unauthorized landing on Bouganville, that was counter to an interim ceasefire Papua New Guinea's civilian leadership had negotiated with Bouganville rebel forces, and disrupted their attempts to reach a lasting Peace Agreement. Nuia was suspended, after he publicly criticized the Minister of Defence. The final result of the conflict was that the rebels earned Bouganville Island the status of an autonomous region, within Papua New Guinea. In 1997 Nuia served as Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuia, Leo Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Papua New Guinean military personnel