Crime roundup: 1 killed in daytime robbery of NGO compound
The latest news on crime and crime related events in South Sudan:
Robbery of NGO compound
Five armed men entered the compound of the humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger in Munuki, Juba, at 4:45 on Thursday and held several staff members at gunpoint while robbing them.
During the incident, the NGO's Cholera Water Supply Supervisor Rombek Paul Mori was killed. The organization afterwards issued a statement condemning his killing and remembering him as a person “deeply committed to helping the people of South Sudan.”
“His tragic death is a loss to Action Against Hunger, but more importantly to the people whose lives he worked to save,” said Chris Lockyear, Operations Director for Action Against Hunger.
Action Against Hunger is calling on the South Sudanese authorities to immediately investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Traffic officer and road user in fistfight
A female traffic officer along the Buluk Junction at the front of the police headquarters in Juba yesterday afternoon was seen exchanging blows with a man who had just gotten into an accident between a car and motorbike.
An eyewitness said that the man punched the traffic woman first and the traffic officer lost her temper and hit the man back, escalating the fight. Fellow traffic officers helped to separate them and stop the fight. Traffic flow was stopped temporarily as road users had slowed to watch the incident.
Abduction in Mundri
Police are investigating the abduction of a 23-year old woman on Tuesday in Mundri West County. The woman was taken from her house for unknown reasons, according to the County Commissioner Hassan Bakhit, as quoted by Eye Radio in a recent report. This comes after the reported killing of a CID officer at a hotel in Mundri last week.
Three women raped at gunpoint
On Thursday night, three women were dragged out of their house in Abiru, Cueibet County of Lakes State and raped at gunpoint. Radio Miraya reported that the gunmen threatened to set their house on fire if the women did not come out, then they dragged them to the bush and violated them. The women afterwards reported the matter to authorities.
New policing initiative in Tority County
UN Police (UNPOL) and South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) recently launched a community policing awareness campaign in Torit County’s Efanyak community, according to a report Wednesday by the UN peacekeeping mission UNMISS. SSNPS Community Policing Officer Paska Enomo has urged the community to call the police hot line in case of any crime. She noted that criminal cases like murder and rape must be reported to the police, while minor crimes with no injuries involved could be settled by community leaders.
Moses Boboya, a community member, said there was no police post in the area, making it a safe haven for criminals to operate with confidence. He appealed to the government to build a police post so that crimes like four killings last month would not be repeated.
“Crimes happen here because there are no organized forces,” said Boboya, as quoted by UNMISS. “The police are not doing patrols and this area is not demarcated.” Efanyak community member Paul Eka urged the state government to visit the area. “Sometimes you call the police they don’t come, they say it is far. We are not happy with this kind of behavior.”
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