A brawl broke out among traders at Abiem West involving Mangar-Angui and Magok community members in Northern Bahr El Ghazal state of South Sudan. The dispute was about which group of traders should be allowed to take Saturday as their market day.
Majong Awen, the deputy chairman of the Abiem chamber of commerce, said that the problem started last year among the traders within Mangar-Angui market.
He described an incident in which the executive chief Ngong Mangar Akoubuk went to the auction during the market day at Mangar-Angui and chased away the residents of Mangok payam saying that they should either create their own market or else accept to pay a fee for attending their market.
A local trader who spoke to Radio Tamazuj blamed the executive chief for having involved himself in the market fee collection. He argued that the chief should instead focus on his duty to solve the community matters, for example he is responsible for theft cases.
Bol Kuol Makuac, a tea maker in the market, said the executive chiefs needs to be trained to know their jobs instead of causing conflicts between the communities. He added that three people were wounded during the fighting. One person had two teeth were broken and another two people were beaten on the head.