At least three motorcyclists were shot dead in an ambush along the Kapoeta-Pibor road by bandits over the weekend.
Two other riders who heard gunshots ahead of them turned around and survived the attack. The five motorcyclists were riding from Morwo in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) to Kapoeta when the attack happened on Saturday afternoon.
According to local authorities, the footmarks of the assailants entered Morwo in Greater Pibor, and the authorities in Kapoeta called for an immediate investigation into the incident.
Several dialogues conducted between the neighboring communities in the area for peaceful co-existence and sharing grazing and drinking points have not been respected. The Kapoeta-Pibor road was closed for a long time following a bloody cattle raid that led to massive killings and abductions in the Kauto area of Kapoeta last year.
Zachariah Ngoletyang Nabirio, an SPLM Party lawmaker in the Eastern Equatoria State Legislative Assembly who hails from Jie, told Radio Tamazuj that security forces from Morwo were dispatched to follow the footmarks of the criminals, but no arrests have been made.
“On Saturday, five youths returning from Morwo were ambushed, and three of them were killed, and the incident happened in Greater Pibor. Three motorbikes were moving ahead,d and the two were behind. The first three bikes were ambushed, and the riders were killed. The two riders behind, while approaching the incident scene, heard gunshots and decided to return to Morwo,” he said. “These criminals are from the Murle because the forces in Morwo followed their footmarks at around 7 p.m., and they went to Greater Pibor. They [Murle] said it is the Government of Eastern Equatoria who closed the road, yet they are the ones closing it. These deceased youths are Jie and Toposa, and I do not know how much money was taken from them.”
“This is not the first time for such incidents to happen, and it is unlawful, and I am urging the Murle Community and their politicians to respect civilians’ rights,” Ngoletyang added.
Meanwhile, Odwa Selsia, a civil society activist who works with the Women for Progress Organization, condemned the killings, saying it disrupt business and freedom of movement.
“We need peaceful co-existence between the two communities. Many dialogues have been conducted among the people of Jie and Murle, and we expect the two communities to co-exist because killing is not a solution,” he said. “People should distance themselves from this issue of killing; we need people to move freely and do business freely between Jie and Murle people of Pibor.”
GPAA Information Minister John Werchum Juk said they were not aware of the incident but vowed to investigate.
“The commissioner of Boma or Morwo Bertek County has not called to update us on what happened, and we are not aware,” he said. “Let me confirm from the commissioner, and then we will get back to you because, at the moment, we do not have any information.”
The local authorities in Morwo were not available for comment.