Two livestock traders were attacked and killed while driving between camp 15 and Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria state on Monday.
Their truck, loaded with goats, was on its way from Kapoeta to Juba but was ambushed near camp 15 army barracks in Loriok Payam of Budi County.
Gabriel Nakor, 20, died on the spot while Nacapio Lokonyen, 25, succumbed to his injuries after reaching Kapoeta civil hospital.
The commissioner of Budi County, Akileo Mboya Peter, told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that the government is working with the Buya youth to trace and identify the perpetrators of the crime.
“As they were approaching one of the Bomas within Budi County, that is Loriok centre (camp 15), suddenly some criminals shot at the car resulting in the loss of the two people – the cattle traders – that were coming from Kapoeta to Torit then Juba. That car managed to reach the centre, they were shot and remained in the car,” Commissioner Akileo said.
“That very day one died in Loriok and then the other one was still alive when we got there. There was another car in camp 15 where we put these people at least to rush to Kapoeta for medical rescue but unfortunately, they could not survive the injury of the bullets. So we have lost those two cattle traders,” he added.
The commissioner said the goats on the truck were not stolen because the driver managed to drive to the army barracks even after being shot.
When asked about the whereabouts of the Tiger and National Security troops who were sent by President Salva Kiir during the attack on Governor Louis Lobong’s convoy last month, he said they had returned to Juba.
“Following the attack on 28 March, the governor came on that day and the convoy of the governor was attacked including all of us. The soldiers from Juba purposely came for rescue and to calm the situation and they have gone back,” Commissioner Akileo said. “It is a very serious concern along this highway because people are losing lives. We need to ensure that this highway is safe. We are appealing to the youth within our kraals, they should refrain from these attacks on the highways.”
The medical director at Kapoeta civil hospital, Dr. Mustaffa Lokuru, confirmed the hospital received two people, one who died on spot and another who succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
“The patient reached here late at night. We managed to place a chest tube to remove the blood from the lungs but the bleeding was inside the lungs. We do experience these cases every month. It might reach even 7 cases per month or more based on the cattle raiding issues” Dr. Mustaffa said.
The State Minister of information and communication, Patrick Oting Cyprian, said the council of ministers deliberated on the security for cattle traders and resolved to provide escorts for them.
“Yes, we heard about the incident which happened in camp 15 where these boys were attacked and two of them lost their lives. We have the information, the government is going to provide escorts for these people to come from Kapoeta to Torit and Juba. We as government are not sleeping, we are working day and night to ensure that the security of people in is intact and people move freely,” Oting said.
On 28 March, an attack on camp 15 left 17 people dead and four others wounded.
The following day, Governor Lobong visited the scene to restore calm but was also attacked when he was traveling to Kapoeta, leaving one of his bodyguards and a woman dead.