Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has demanded an apology from several news outlets as he stands by controversial claims about a recent incident on Manus Island.

Mr Dutton slammed the media over reporting that disputed his version of an incident in which navy officers fired gunshots into the island’s regional processing centre.

PNG police and Manus MP Ronny Knight had contradicted Mr Dutton in media reports, disputing his suggestion that allegations asylum seekers had tried to lead a young local boy into the facility were a factor.

In an interview on Sky News, Mr Dutton accused the media of taking the word of “people who have been convicted of fraud and have been excluded from Parliament” over the Australian government.

The credibility of Mr Knight, who criticised Mr Dutton in an interview with the ABC, has come into question after it emerged he had been dismissed as an MP over corruption allegations.

“I frankly think the ABC has lost the plot and I think they should be out apologising,” Mr Dutton told Sky on Monday night.

“What I said is factual. I stand by it 100 per cent. I’m not going to be cowered into a different position when I know what I said to be the truth.

He said he had reconfirmed his version of events with sources on Manus Island.

“I expect the ABC and Fairfax and others to be making an apology in the 24 hours given the revelations that have been released tonight in relation to their discredited witness,” he said.

The ABC later added a clarification to its story, but noted that Mr Knight “says he is appealing this decision and he is still listed on the PNG Parliamentary website as a Member of Parliament”.

.@PeterDutton_MP says the ABC has 'lost the plot and they should apologise'… I stand by my comments. MORE https://t.co/CshYY451lA pic.twitter.com/t5wkFqJCBS

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 24, 2017

What happened?

About 6.30pm on April 14, navy officers fired shots into the Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island.

According to PNG police, the servicemen “went on a rampage”, firing several shots and “indiscriminately assaulting policemen”.

As the soldiers tried to break into the centre, asylum seekers in the centre ran and hid.

In an April 20 interview with Sky News, Mr Dutton was asked about the incident.

He said it was “best to wait to see” what the police investigation uncovered, but then referred to the incident involving the young boy.

“There was an alleged incident where three asylum seekers were alleged to be leading a local five-year-old boy back toward the facility and there was a lot of angst around that, if you like, within the local PNG community,” he said.

He later said locals were concerned about “why the boy was being led … back into the regional processing centre”.

“So I think it’s fair to say that the mood had elevated quite quickly. I think some of the local residents were quite angry about this particular incident and another alleged sexual assault,” he said.

Those comments prompted news reports quoting PNG police and Mr Knight as contradicting Mr Dutton. They said there was no link between the incidents.

PNG Police Commander David Yapu said the boy was taken to a tent where asylum seekers were packing food and given some fruit before he was sent away.

The boy was 10 years old, not five, and the incident occurred a week before the shootings, Commander Yapu said.

Instead, Commander Yapu said the shooting and brawl involved “drunken” defence force officials and had been sparked by an altercation between soldiers and asylum seekers at a nearby football field.

Despite this, Mr Dutton has refused to back down, saying he is privy to more information than the public.

Labor has called for an investigation into the incident.

Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim said: “This was an outrageous lie designed to pour scorn on the people he has left stranded on Manus Island.”