At least nine suspects were arrested on Thursday in connection with the shooting incident targeting a humanitarian convoy in Oronyo village, Torit County, Eastern Equatoria State.
The incident occurred on Monday when a humanitarian convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) was ambushed and shot at while conducting a nutrition assessment mission in Lafon. Fortunately, no casualties were reported from the attack.
In response to the grave incident, the Eastern Equatoria State government gave the Oronyo community a one-week ultimatum to apprehend and hand over the suspects responsible for the attack on the humanitarian convoy.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Jacob Atari Albano, Commissioner of Torit County, said: “9 suspects have been arrested by Oronyo youth for shooting at the humanitarian convoy of vehicles and were handed over to the police.”
He further elaborated on the efforts made to identify the suspects, “Yesterday, since this incident happened, we pressurized the youth of Oronyo until the minister went on the ground. So after that, the Monyiomiji were actually able to identify the suspects. There were two prime suspects and then there were also seven other suspects, all of whom were escorted by the youth up to Torit town. These people have already been detained in police, waiting for the law to take its course. We are keeping the names of all the detained suspects confidential.”
Despite the unfortunate attack, Commissioner Albano assured the public that the county is relatively peaceful following the incident involving the humanitarian convoy.
Confirming the arrests, Major General James Monday Enoka, Commissioner of Police for Eastern Equatoria State, stated that the suspects are currently in police custody and will await trial.
He acknowledged that highway robbery incidents are not uncommon in the state and reiterated the government’s commitment to bolster security measures in hotspot areas, “Government is working hard to deploy armed forces along highways that is why when you travel from one location to another, you will see armed forces along the roads providing protection to travellers.”
Peter Lokeng Lotone, Eastern Equatoria State Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agency, commended the community of Oronyo for their cooperation in identifying and apprehending the suspects. He urged other communities in the state to follow Oronyo’s example, emphasizing the importance of not harbouring criminals.
“I am very happy with the Youth of Oronyo, especially the chiefs and the youth, for turning up to an incident that happened in Oronyo on the 24th of July. We went there and talked to the youth, and they were able to perform their task as a community. We, as the government, appreciate the work being done by them. Four or six people can’t spoil the name of a village. If they are the ones, the law will catch up with them. And if they are not the ones involved in the incident, the suspects will be released back into their community. The government needs to reward these groups of youth for their intervention. Other communities of Eastern Equatoria State need to emulate the actions taken by the youth of Oronyo,” Minister Lotone stated.