A 27-year-old businessman identified only as Opera was killed by armed men along the Ikotos-Tseretenya road in Eastern Equatoria State on Friday morning.

The trader was on his way to Madi-Opei in Northern Uganda, through the Tseretenya border point, to buy goods for his shop when he met his fate. 

Authorities in the area said this is the third time in a month that ambushes and killings have happened and disrupted movement along the vital road linking South Sudan and Uganda.  

Ikotos county inspector of police, Warrant officer Gabriel Akom Arok, said, “Ikotos has a problem today, traders were going from Ikotos to Madi-opei (Uganda) to buy commodities but this man (Opera) was killed between Tseretenya and Ikotos. His name is Opera. He was moving with many others but he was in the front that is why after he was shot the others returned.”

He urged the government to reach out and work with the local communities to stop the senseless ambushes, killings, and cattle raids. 

“This is now an issue between the government and the community. This issue started in April. It started with the raiding of cattle from Ikotos town and a person was killed. Secondly, a vehicle belonging to a Somali national was shot but there was no action from the government,” Akom lamented. “A vehicle taking food for school children was also shot, a Ugandan vehicle was shot and money looted. This is something for the state to handle. They are informed but nobody takes action. It is beyond our control now. As we speak people are fearing for their lives.”

The commissioner of Ikotos County, Joseph Loholong Jenisio, went with local youths and security forces to track down the attackers.

He urged the youth to open up and join forces with the government to bring stability to the area, saying the government cannot mitigate insecurity alone.

“Well, it has happened and we are still following the footmarks of the attacker. We have not yet got the reality so we are trying to call the chiefs where the footmarks entered so that we find the perpetrators. We have recently held meetings with the youths on how we can set up patrols on the road,” Commissioner Loholong said. “Currently the force that we have on the ground can help but this morning (Friday), the incident happened while the patrol team was still setting up.”

A lawmaker representing Ikotos County in the national parliament, Grace Abalang, confirmed the incident and said the county authorities are following the matter to ensure the culprits are arrested. 

“This is now the third time this is happening in the same place. It is something very bad and we are not happy. Killing people on the highway is not good because this is the road that is bringing services to the people. As you know, many people of Ikotos don’t come to Torit for services; they go to Madi-Opei and Kitgum (Uganda),” Abalang said.