A 27-year-old driver working for South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) in Torit town of South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state was beaten by a group of youth on Monday. SSRC has since suspended operations in the area saying armed youth stormed their offices on the same day in Torit and assaulted their staff members.
This comes amidst growing tensions between the local youth (Monyiemiji), the state government, and Non-Governmental Organisations operating in the area over complaints of unfair employment.
The state police spokesperson Maj. Justine Kleopus Takuru told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, “Someone came by name Gama Paul Christopher aged 27, a driver at SSRC, to complain to us that he had come for lunch at MTN in Omoliha market after eating and he was going back to the car, he met up to 20-30 people. He was attacked and asked to give the car keys but he refused but one of them beat him using bamboo on the head so he gave the keys and ran away."
He added that after recording his statement, the police investigations officers went to the scene and brought the car to the station.
Meanwhile, the South Sudan Red Cross has released a statement condemning the attack on its staff, saying a group of armed youth stormed the office in Torit on Monday where they assaulted six staff and two staff volunteer members. Following the incident, the statement said the office was closed.
“We strongly condemn this attack on our staff and volunteers. We have temporarily suspended our humanitarian activities in Torit. We are ready to engage in dialogue with the community on their concerns,” said John Lobor, the Secretary-General of the SSRC. “We call on the community leaders and authorities to ensure the safety of our staff, volunteers, and property and to facilitate the work of the Red Cross."
A civil activist in eastern Equatoria state Mr. Oryema Emmanuel condemned the attacks and urged the youth to use non-violent means to achieve their goal.
“For the issue of Monyiemiji, we are trying to tell them that if they want their problems solved let them use a non-violent approach. The committee has been constituted and their members were coopted so they should follow up with the committee," he advised.
The state government formed a committee to resolve the grievances raised by the Monyiemiji.
Recently aid workers have been targeted in different parts of the country, as humanitarian organizations condemn the act. About a fortnight ago, an aid worker was killed in the state's Budi County.