The murder of a lecturer in the capital Juba at the weekend appears to be a revenge killing, the ministry of interior said.
Bol Chol, who hailed from Western Lakes State, was a law lecturer at the University of Juba. He was shot dead on his way home near a police post in the Gudele neighbourhood.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj this morning, Interior Minister Michael Chiangjiek said the lecturer who was shot dead three days ago appears to have been killed in a revenge attack carried out by men whose relative was murdered in Rumbek.
“It was a revenge killing. Bol’s brother had killed someone in Rumbek, so we believe that the family whose son was killed in Rumbek is behind the incident that occurred in Juba,” Chiangjiek explained.
The minister further said police in Juba have launched investigations into the murder of the lecturer on Sunday evening. “No arrests have been made so far but we are sure the perpetrators will be apprehended,” he said.
News of the lecturer's killing near a police post at Kubri Haboba sparked national outrage and demands for justice.
On Monday, the late Bol Chol’s relative, Gar Adel Gar said the incident occurred as Mr. Chol was returning home from Juba town. Gar pointed out that that the lecturer was killed by men dressed in police uniforms.
Many pastoralist communities hold long-standing grievances unrelated to the national tug of war for power and the breakdown of law in remote areas has complicated such local conflicts.
The revenge attack in Juba is the latest in a long-running cycle of violence between feuding communities in greater Lakes State.