Pochalla county commissioner, bodyguards killed

The commissioner of Pochalla County and his bodyguards were killed in an attack at the outskirts of the county headquarters, Pochalla town, on Thursday, police said.

The commissioner of Pochalla County and his bodyguards were killed in an attack at the outskirts of the county headquarters, Pochalla town, on Thursday, police said.

Police Spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Justin told Radio Tamazuj on Saturday that Commissioner Samuel Ojulu Ochalla and his two bodyguards were at a crime scene when they were attacked and killed by unknown gunmen on Wednesday.

“What happened on Wednesday was that the commissioner of Pochalla, his two bodyguards and a civilian were killed in an attack by some armed assailants,” he said. “The commissioner was inspecting a site where one of the members of organized forces was killed a day earlier.”

The police spokesperson said an investigation was ongoing to establish the motive of the killing.

“We have not made any arrests so far, and we have not established the identities of the attackers. As we speak, investigations into the incident are still ongoing,” he said.  

For his part, Edmund Yakani, a prominent South Sudanese civil society activist, condemned the attack as barbaric and called on the relevant authorities to apprehend those behind the attack.

“Firstly, I strongly condemned this incident of the assassination of the Pochalla County commissioner by the perpetrators behind and those perpetrators should be apprehended and held accountable,” he stressed. “But also, I would like to tell the leadership of the country that when you are appointing people like commissioners, there is a need to take into account the concerns of the citizens because an alarm was raised to the chief administrator even before he was appointed as the commissioner.”   

Mr. Ojulu Ochalla was appointed commissioner in March 2022, replacing Peter Ogalla Ochudho, who was sacked over an alleged lack of cooperation with the chief administrator.

However, Ojulu’s appointment had since been rejected by his community, demanding his sacking and that they would not cooperate with him if he assumed duties.