Police authorities in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State have arrested an SSPDF soldier, Nyang Tong Mathiang, who shot and killed a 48-year-old woman identified as Adut Anyiet in Aweil North’s Ariath Payam on Wednesday last week.
The incident happened when a dispute emerged over farmland boundaries. The accused is currently detained by Aweil police while other suspects are being investigated at the Ariath police station in Aweil North County.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj over the weekend, Vectrino Ken Akoon, the county commissioner of Aweil North confirmed the land dispute and subsequent murder and called for calm as the government investigates the matter.
“This happened and the one who killed her is her neighbor and they were arguing over an agricultural land border until he shot her dead with a gun. This person (killer) belongs to the wounded heroes unit of the SSPDF and he was arrested and referred to Aweil town. I visited the site yesterday and I assured the area citizens that our state embraces peace and if anyone commits a crime, the law is enforced immediately,’’ Commissioner Akoon said.
Captain Guot Guot Akol, of the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State police, said the incident was an unintentional murder because the late was killed as she tried to break the fight between the accused and some other women.
Capt. Akol said, “The incident happened on 30 June at around 9 pm. The soldier, Nyang Tong Mathiang, who belongs to SSPDF Division 3 wounded unit based in Wunyiik, was disputing with his neighbors over land and the deceased woman was killed as she tried to stop the fight among the parties. The suspect intended to shoot a certain woman but unfortunately shot the one who was separating the fight.”
He said that all the women involved in the scuffle have been arrested and are being investigated by the Ariath Payam police, while the killer was taken to Aweil town police for security reasons on the ground.