State official killed in road ambush near Rumbek

By Manyang Mayom

June 1, 2009 (RUMBEK) – The Lakes state deputy executive director in the Ministry of Local Government was killed on Saturday at a small forest between Wulu County and Rumbek Central at a place called Rumpanbuolriak just a distance of 14 miles from town.

The late Sabit Nichola Majok was killed by an unknown group, according to a state authority. Majok was going out from Rumbek town centre for a weekend to visit his family in Wulu county, said an SPLM official.

Majok, who was the only graduate in his hometown of Bhar-Gel in western Wulu County, leaves behind his wife and small girl born just three months ago.

According to one relative of his, Majok is a graduate of Bhar el Ghazal university in economics and worked in Lakes state as an administrator for a long period since his graduation two year ago.

As a result of Majok’s death in the morning at 10 am on Saturday, there is high tension between Wulu youth accusing Rumbek East youth of having had a hand in his death. Rumbek East youth were not reached for comment in this article.

The state authorities are not yet clear on what decision they might take, though on Monday the SPLM Lakes State Secretary Samuel Mathiang Keer appeared in Wulu to impose clam in the area while the security governor is holding a security meeting.

One official said that there is a man who was brought from Wulu with a gunshot wound and there is escalating fighting as security forces try to control the situation.

(ST)