More than 10 armed men suspected to be from Sudan last Friday raped a 17-year-old girl and looted passengers along Mairem-Majok road, the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State security advisor said.
Joseph Akook Aleu, the security adviser, told Radio Tamazuj Sunday that a South Sudanese teenager was raped by suspected Massiriya armed tribesmen. He said the people who were traveling with the young lady were also robbed by the criminals.
“Yes, rape and the looting took place because there were South Sudanese who arrived in Mairem from Khartoum and they came via the Mairem-Majok route using hired rickshaws,” Akook said. “The Massiriya robbers looted all their belongings and raped the seventeen-year-old girl.”
The Massiriya representative in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, Ibrahim Marek, has distanced his section from the incident, saying that he did not receive such a report in the last few days. He however promised to investigate the matter.
“I am not aware of that information. I just came back from a visit to the highlands and do not have any information and do not know whether it happened or not,” Marek said. “There was no such news before I traveled.”
A citizen in Warawar who preferred anonymity said it is common for the people of Mairem to raid South Sudanese when they travel through their land.
“If South Sudanese arrive in Mairem from different parts of Sudan, the people of Mairem often rob them in an attempt to block Sudanese products from reaching South Sudan,” he said.