Travelers along the Juba-Yei road faced a terrifying ordeal last Saturday when armed assailants ambushed their vehicles, stripping them nude and looting their valuables. Among the survivors was Bosco Bush, a journalist with the No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, who shared his harrowing experience.
Bush, who was traveling to Juba after visiting family in Yei, described the journey that began on a happy note but quickly turned into a nightmare. The incident occurred in the forested area of Mankaro, Loka Boma, Lainya County in Central Equatoria State.
“We were about 20 miles from Yei when armed men appeared from the bush and stopped our car at gunpoint,” Bush recounted. “They told us to raise our hands and march into the forest,”
The attackers ordered the six passengers, including four women and two children, out of the car and into the bush.
The captives were then forced to undress before being robbed of their remaining belongings.
As the assailants looted the first car, a tipper lorry also fell into the ambush. The passengers from the lorry were subjected to the same treatment and joined the initial group of captives.
“We were taken deeper into the bush, barefoot and only in our underpants,” Bush said.
The captives were eventually told to run when they heard gunshots, which scattered them in different directions.
Bush managed to reach the main road, where he borrowed a pair of trousers and found a boda-boda rider to take him to Lainya County Headquarters. There, he reported the incident to the commissioner and head of security.
“It was like a horror movie in real life,” the scribe recalled.
Government forces in Loka were alerted and responded to the scene, but the assailants had already fled.