A 10-year-old boy only identified as Ojinga on Monday accidentally shot himself dead in Hiyala Payam of Torit County in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State, local authorities said.
Oromo John, a local chief in Hiyalla and a relative to the deceased, explained that the incident occurred at around 3 pm when the deceased child touched the trigger of the gun out of ignorance.
“The incident happened on 24 October at around 3 pm. A group of children come from the garden, ate food, and were going to bathe at the borehole but the deceased told the other children to proceed and that he would find them there,” he explained. “This boy (deceased) picked up the gun which was already cocked from near a bed and his fingure touched the trigger. He shot himself near the eye and the bullet penetrated his head. When the neighbors rushed to check what happened, he was found alone lying dead.”
Meanwhile, Galileo Ohide, the paramount chief in Hiyala Payam confirmed the incident and urged parents to store weapons safely and for the government to disarm civilians.
“This incident happened on Monday when a boy called Ojinga, 10, pressed the gun and when people heard a shot, they went there and found him dead,” he said. “The gun belongs to someone called Odong. People should not leave guns anyhow and the government should collect all guns. The presence of guns in the hands of civilians is causing a lot of deaths here.”
For his part, Charles Okullu a civil society activist in Eastern Equatoria State said the incident was sad, blamed it on negligence, and said disarmament should be implemented.
“That situation was very unfortunate but we blame all this on the presence of many guns in the hands of civilians. They do not know the laws of using guns and some communities have more guns than the government,” he said. “We request the government to expedite the process of implementing the peace agreement so that disarmament can take place.”