Unrest spread into Juba yesterday after an attack on a village at the outskirts of the city. Several hundred people demonstrated against the violence amid heavy deployment of security forces and two journalists covering the event were detained.
Hundreds of citizens marched through Juba protesting the recent killings of civilians at Kworijin village, Northern Bari Payam, which is located a short distance north of the city. Marchers began at the tomb of the famous Bari chief Jubek and headed toward Juba Teaching Hospital.
Among the protesters were some leaders of the Bari community including former Juba Mayor Al Hajj Baballah, who called on the government to provide security to the villagers and blamed raiders from neighboring Terekeka County for the attack.
Governor Clement Wani, who himself hails from Terekeka, is yet to make a statement on the incident but reportedly he traveled to the scene of the crisis.
During the protest security personnel arrested two journalists including Mayom Yones who works for Al Rai newspaper and Athiang John Kur, a journalist for the newspaper Nation Mirror.
Mayom said that they were covering the march from Jubek’s grave to the hospital when a security personnel came and beat him and his colleague accusing them of being spies and took them in one of the ‘777’ security vehicles to the police station.
Authorities there took their cameras, money and equipment and held them at the police station for about two hours. A duty officer there then released them on condition that they appear at 8:00 this morning for investigation.
Mayom told Radio Tamazuj that he was not seriously hurt but noted that his fellow journalist was taken to the hospital suffering from blows to the head and bleeding.
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