The Police in Yambio town, Western Equatoria State, said they are holding 6 suspects in connection with a burglary in which a safe containing money was stolen from a shop.
According to the state police commissioner, Maj. Gen. Albino Uthou Ajuztakayan, the six suspects were arrested on 18 January by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers after they broke into a shop owned by a foreign trader called Hammed Adam in the wee hours of 15 January and made off with a safe containing SSP 7 million and USD 1,500.
“Regarding the theft which happened in Yambio County on 15 January 2022, the criminals who broke into the shop of Hammed Adam in the central market of Yambio town and picked a big chest which containing 7 million SSP were arrested,” Gen, Uthou said. “The criminals were 8 in total. On 18 January, the CID and other police officers in Yambio County managed to arrest 6 suspects in connection with the theft.”
The police chief said most of the apprehended suspected criminals are deserters from the SSPDF and SPLA-IO military outfits and called for the speedy graduation of unified forces.
“The People arrested are Jacob John, a boda boda rider, Anibiko Baraka, Andrea Martin, Luke Mathew, Samsum Usuman, and Emmanuel Juma,” Gen. Uthou revealed. “The CID did the investigations and recovered SSP 4,750 and 500 USD. The balance out of 7 million SSP and 1,000 USD is missing and the ring leader of the mission, Juma Ture, and others are yet to be arrested.”
He said that whenever the police apprehend criminals, the latter claim to be from the armed forces.
“Some of these criminals say they are soldiers and that is an insult to military uniform. If a criminal is arrested, they say ‘I belong to Division 6 of SSPDF’, another one will say they belong to SPLA-IO,” Gen. Uthous charged. “IO is a dumping site for criminals. Division 6 (SSPDF) is also becoming a center for criminals and those people are not trained soldiers. These are the people who just went to get military uniforms and disappeared, becoming robbers and are tarnishing the image of SSPDF.”
Meanwhile, Western Equatoria State Governor Gen. Alfred Futuyo Karaba congratulated the police for arresting the suspected criminals and urged them to continue with the good work.
“I want to give you thanks for the work you are doing this time. It started with criminals who robbed the church in Rimenze and now this one, I think the criminals are reducing,” Gen. Futuyo said. “Keep collecting those criminals till they are over. The car I donated to you was purposely for this work and not for individuals.”