South Sudan army arrests soldiers behind Yei murders

By Ngor Arol Garang

August 28, 2010 (RENK) – The official spokesman of the Southern Sudan’s army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) on Saturday said they have arrested soldiers involved in the two separate killings of eleven people in Yei River County, Central Equatoria state on Thursday and Friday.

Lieutenant General Kuol Deim Kuol told Sudan Tribune on Saturday from regional capital of Juba that security forces have found and arrested two members of the SPLA suspected of involvement in two separate killings.

“Our forces in Yei upon passage and receipt of information related to the two separate incidents occurring at different times launched restrictive search and managed to get and arrest a soldier who killed his in-laws on Friday morning at 2:00AM in Yei. They continued the search in collaboration with local authorities and security forces until the other criminal who escaped after killing a military officer was also found today on Saturday in Lainya County, Central Equatoria,” said the army’s spokesman.

General Kuol explained that on 27 August, a soldier from the SPLA, identified as Martin Amaar Deng Manyuol, shot nine family members in Yei, killing eight of them instantly while the ninth survived the shooting but sustained injuries to their stomach.

“While the information about the incident was being passed as it happened late in the night, the murderer managed to escape but our forces in collaboration with security forces swiftly acted to arrest him on the same day,” Kuol said.

The senior military officer said initial findings indicate that the soldier shot his future in-laws over differences in marital arrangements.

“Complete details will be unearthed by the investigation. Involvement of the SPLA forces was purely restricted to containment of security situation to avoid creating fears and panic to the general public in Yei,” he added.

Switching to the killing of a military officer, the spokesman of the regional army also explained that on Thursday 26 August at 7:30 PM, a soldier identified as Sergeant Gabriel Majur shot dead Colonel Peter Gatkuoth Chol. Majur is alleged to have been drug addict and who drank heavily.

“[An] Investigation will be conducted to get the actual cause of the killing but the primary information we have now is that the cause was purely an administrative issue,” he said, dismissing allegations that it was a tribal dispute.

Majur was previously disciplined for his behavior of frequently smoking cannabis, known locally as ‘bongo’. He was put in jail recently but was released.
Late Colonel Peter Gatkuoth was the army’s officer in charge of the SPLA Engineering Corps in Yei town.

“These incidents have nothing to do with tribal conflicts. They are pure criminal acts,” said General Kuol, adding that there are people, especially in the north, who have connected and regarded the two separate incidents as tribal conflict which is not the case.

“These are pure individual cases caused by criminal acts and these individuals responsible have already been identified and arrested,” he said.

(ST)