Relatives of 15 businessmen robbed of more than 3.5 million SSP by armed bandits along the Nile in Jonglei State have called on the government to arrest the culprits and immediately release the traders.
On August 23, a commercial boat en route to Juba from Unity State was attacked along the Nile in Jonglei’s Machar area by suspected bandits. 15 businessmen on board the boat were robbed of over SSP 3.5 million and were briefly held by the attackers for a day.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, Dech Luony, a relative to some of the businessmen, said: “This morning, I spoke to them. They are currently safe because they are not under the custody of the robbers. The robbers took 3. 5 million SSP and 1, 100 USD before releasing them."
Luony called on Jonglei authorities to pursue the attackers and recover the money which was intended for buying goods.
Another relative, Yuhanis Kujiek, also former Unity’s Panyijiar County commissioner where the traders come from, expressed anxiety about the traders' safety.
“The information we have is that they are with security forces at Shambe area of Lakes State. But we are not satisfied that they are healthy and safe until they are released to Juba or Unity states," he stressed.
Lakes State Caretaker Information Minister, William Koji, confirmed they are holding 15 men for safety, and that arrangements are ongoing to set them free.
“After they were rescued by joint security forces from Jonglei and Lakes states, they were brought to Shambe for their safety. What next is that arrangements are being done for the security forces to take them to Juba or Unity. They are safe now, but the only problem is that they were looted,” he said.
For his part, Joseph Mayen Akoon, the Jonglei police commissioner, confirmed that investigations into the incident have started although no arrests have been made.