Traders in Bor town have shut down their shops on Wednesday morning after armed youth started shooting in the air randomly without any clear reason.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, a trader who preferred not to be named said they were frightened by the sound of gunshots in the town.

Last week, the Governor of Jonglei State, Philip Aguer Panyang, issued an executive order banning random shooting in the air and threatened a fine of one goat or its equivalent in South Sudanese Pound per bullet.

Three days later, the uncontrollable armed youth in Bor defied the order.

For his part, the Mayor of Bor town, Peter Akim Ajieth, said the traders were scared because some elements of youth were walking around the market and shooting randomly.

“People have to spend holiday and during the holiday there are those who celebrate holiday differently. There are those who started celebrating Easter holiday now and there are those who will celebrate on Friday,” said Akim.

“There are those who celebrate it for one week, some people will be travelling to other places and people will be visited by their relatives, so there are different reasons why shops were closed, there is no one factor we can mention to be the contributor but otherwise there are other factors that led to the closure of the shops,” he added.

However, the town mayor said the closure of businesses in Bor town was temporary and that the shop owners during East holiday will continue to be on and off for some hours during the day.

He added that local authorities have already deployed police personnel in and around the market to create safe environment for traders to reopen the market.

Meanwhile, Mabior Kuol Ajok, a supervisor at the state chamber of commerce, said the closure of the market was misunderstood.

“The traders feared random shootings and we convinced them to reopen on Thursday,” he said.

Photo: Shops closed after random shootings in Bor town on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. (Radio Tamazuj)