A county commissioner in South Sudan’s Gok state has given his own rifle in replacement of a gun stolen from a government soldier, reducing tension and averting a heavy crackdown.The circumstance under which a gun from a soldier from SPLA’s 4th division was stolen remains unclear. Sources from Gok State say the thief stole the gun from a Division 4 soldier who was asleep in the night in the newly created county of Malou-pec in Gok state from Juba. It was not clear where the soldiers were heading.
Other sources claimed the soldiers were on their way to Wau from Juba at the time of the incident at around 3:00AM on the 20th of October, 2016. In an attempt to diffuse tension, area commissioner of Malou Pec County in Gok State, Enock Machuoc Mayol decided to give his own gun to soldiers and promises them that the government will track down the criminals and bring them to book. He also wrote to the division commander telling him that case will be followed by administration.
The county authorities have arrested a suspect identified as Madiel Meen Pech, a son of Ex-chief Meen Pech Meen in Malou Pech County. In August this year, a brother to the suspect called Akhol Meen Pec ambushed a military convoy between Tonj and Gok States resulting in an exchange of gunfire with the soldiers until he allegedly surrendered his gun to the soldiers and fled.