The Eastern Equatoria State government said they have arrested 28 men and 2 women suspected of carrying out an ambush that led to the loss of lives and property along the Kapota-Ngauro road last week.
Last Wednesday, five people died on the spot, and seven others were injured following an ambush on a convoy of commercial vehicles along the Kapoeta-Ngauro road in Budi County. One person later succumbed to his injuries at the Juba Teaching Hospital.
Governor Louis Lobong who rushed to the scene after the incident said several suspects were arrested by security forces following a search and crackdown and that they will be prosecuted.
“This is my county, an area I was born in and I am not happy about what happened. I said, if it started where I was born, then operations have to start and that is why I left my official duties,” Governor Lobong said. “Together with other dignitaries, the commissioners of Budi, Kapoeta south, the mayor, commissioner of police in the defunct Kapoeta State, and all organized forces present, we found evidence of the people who did the act. They looted the vehicles. We did not get everything, but we got a few as evidence.”
He added: “We have arrested these people and we will take them to face the law and I want to tell anybody who takes law in their hands in Eastern Equatoria State that they will face the law.”
The governor said the search is still on for the people who killed local gold miners and he requested Budi County commissioner and Didinga chiefs to find and apprehend the murderers.
However, Paul Napwon Yonai, the chairperson of the Toposa community and a lawmaker in the yet-to-be reconstituted state assembly said most of the suspects who were arrested were local miners who did not have guns but were found in possession of items taken from the scene of the ambush.
“The funniest thing is we did not get anybody with a gun, they were found to be people who are mining close to the vicinity where the incident took place but they participated in looting items from the cars abandoned behind,” Napwon said. “According to them, they just rushed there because they heard the sound of guns and they found that these people had run away and collected goods. We told them the items are already evidence and they have to be charged for that. There are 30 people-28 men and 2 women.”
A 39-year-old driver, Daniel Adhiang, who narrowly survived that attack said the attackers spoke the local Toposa language.
“When we were on the road near the village of Louis Lobong, we met a motorbike carrying two people who laughed at us. As we reached the river, I was the third in the line, we heard gunshots,” Adhiang narrated. “They shot at us and we lost five people. This is what happened. When we heard the gunshot, we ran and hid nearby. We heard these people speaking Toposa, these are Toposa who shot us.”
A medical officer at the Kapoeta Civil Hospital, Dr. Achuil Machot, said that they received seven gunshot victims on Wednesday last week and that two who were in critical condition were referred to Juba and Kenya for further management.