Police in Western Bahr el Ghazal State have confirmed the killing of Brigadier Marko Chol Akuei from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in-Opposition (SPLA-IO).
The incident, which took place on Thursday, involved an armed civilian employed at the state ministry of cooperative and stemmed from a land dispute.
Major General James Simon Yasi, acting police commissioner of Western Bahr el Ghazal state, told Radio Tamazuj that the altercation occurred at 11:00 am in Roc-Roc Dong payam of Jur River County. It escalated into a gun exchange, resulting in the death of Brigadier Akuei.
Yasi explained, “The incident on May 9th stemmed from a dispute over land between individuals in Roc-Roc Dong, particularly involving Marko Chol Akuei and another individual named Alfred Angok Bol.”
He clarified that Angok, a civilian employed at the state ministry of cooperative, shot and killed Akuei during the altercation. “The dispute solely revolved around a piece of land and has no connection to insecurity. The land belongs to a specific clan within Roc-Roc Dong,” he clarified. Yasi mentioned that upon receiving the report, they promptly dispatched a police team led by Brigadier Chol Deng.
“The suspects were arrested, and the body was taken to Wau hospital for postmortem. Medical procedures were completed, and the body was then handed over to the relatives for burial,” he said. “The family of the deceased has initiated a court case, and the suspects have been investigated, during which they confessed.”
He continued, “We have arrested two individuals, and we are working to apprehend the other two. If they are associated with the SPLA-IO, we will engage with them to facilitate their surrender to us.”
When contacted, the primary suspect identified as Alfred Angok Bol confirmed that he indeed shot the victim but claimed it was in self-defense after he and his group came under gunfire from Marko Chol Akuei.
“What happened in the Goro center of Roc-Roc Dong payam was that we went there as a community of the area and installed a signpost for Goro Village Boma. However, after we left, on Monday, a brigadier from the SPLA-IO, who is also a local resident, appeared and ordered some youth to remove the signpost, but they refused. So, he came by himself and cut down the signpost. He was waiting to shoot anyone who approached. So today (Thursday) when I was leaving Wau for my farm, which is also in the area, we saw the signpost was down,” he said.
“We were accompanied by a police officer who was asking about the signpost’s removal. Immediately, the brigadier started shooting at us. He fired around 15 bullets, all of which missed. So, I attempted to grab a gun from one of the young boys there and tried to defend myself. That’s how he got injured. However, according to reports I heard because I fled, he died after we left. I managed to come to Wau town, but I will go to the Sawa Sawa police to report myself,” concluded.