[Photo: Simon Jeriki alias John, Handout]
JAKARTA – Three land guards of Alo Oba – Simon Jeriki alias John, Mansur, and Siprianus Transurdi have reported alleged serious threats from Pater Marsel Agot SVD, a Catholic priest in Labuan Bajo, Manggarai Barat, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). They stated that the individual, who is supposed to carry out humanitarian service missions, allegedly acted in an intimidating manner that could disrupt security stability in the premium super tourism destination.
According to Simon Jeriki, the incident began on Tuesday (January 27, 2026) at the Alo Oba land site in Batu Gosok, Wae Kelambu Subdistrict. At the time, Pater Marsel Agot arrived with a group of people carrying machetes, and installed posts to mark his claim over the land.
“We initially did not object to the installation of the posts as we considered it merely a claim. However, when I intended to put up a banner marking the land as Alo Oba’s property, I was prohibited and faced harsh words along with threats,” John told the media on Saturday (February 14, 2026).
John added that Pater Marsel threatened to gather people from his village to “fight against Alo Oba,” using the Manggarai term “purak mukang wajo kampong” which translates to “attack and besiege the headquarters.” He also said that Pater Marsel’s claim of ownership over the land was not in line with his knowledge, and urged the concerned party to contact Alo Oba’s legal team as indicated on the banner installed at the site.
Siprianus and Mansur confirmed John’s account, stating that the threats from Pater Marsel Agot were genuine. They quoted him as saying, “Where is Alo Oba? Tell them to come here. If not, we will gather more people from the village. We are not afraid to die here.”
Online media contribution from Prime News Post// Compiled from various media sources// Photo: Google Documents/(Special)
