The authorities in South Sudan’s Warrap State on Friday said calm has returned to Kuajok Main Prison after angry inmates staged a strike on Tuesday.
According to officials, the inmates were demanding food and complaining of poor hygiene inside and outside the prison facility.
William Wol Mayom, the Warrap State minister of information and communication, said state government officials visited the facility on Thursday to contain the situation.
“The strike happened on Tuesday and Wednesday and yesterday, Thursday, the state government under the leadership of Aluel Garang Garang, the Warrap State acting governor, visited the central prison and the situation is currently calm,” he explained. “The incident started on 11 June when eight inmates escaped in the evening over the fence and prison wardens managed to apprehend five of them and three others are being searched for. This made the prison administration tighten the rules and severely punish inmates by locking them inside for the whole day.”
Wol added: “This severe punishment angered the prisoners and they broke doors, gates, and windows and the acting governor received the message and deployed additional forces.”
The minister said Acting Governor Aluel Garang Garang listened to the pressing issues of the inmates and donated 2 bulls, 25 sacks of assorted food, and 25 plates and promised to provide lighting and expansion of the prison.
Meanwhile, Major General, Santino Awar Bak, the Director of Prisons in Warrap State, said junior prison officers delayed reporting the incident to him.
“I was brought here and received in the office on 8 May and I was not taken to visit the prison until Tuesday this week when I heard about the incident from the director of the prison. I immediately went to the office and wrote four letters, one to the attorney general, acting governor, police, and Army informing them of what is going on in the central prison,” he said. “We went to prison on Thursday with the acting governor and cabinet members and we were isolated because the prisoners said they only wanted two junior prison officers, one is major and another one is captain. So, we sat very far and they talked there with government officials and the prisoners were calm.”
However, who will be responsible to them (prisoners)?” Gen. Awar asked.