Jonglei state may replace police guards at Bor market
February 13 2015(BOR) – The commissioner of Jonglei state’s Bor county has expressed serious concerns over the police force guarding the town’s market, accusing officers of failing to improve security.
Three Ethiopian traders were seriously injured in a grenade attack at the Bor Marol market on Wednesday.
The victims were talking in front of the supermarket at about 10pm (local time) when the incident occurred.
Commissioner Mamer Ruk said he had lost trust in the police deployed in the market after they failed to apprehend any person in relation to the offence.
According to the commissioner, the police guarding the market are not capable of providing adequate protection.
“The force deployed in the market did not take serious security in the market, if security is taken seriously such things should not have happened,” Ruk told media in Bor on Friday.
He said the current police officers deployed in the market by the by Sudanese government in the 1990s and were inherited by South Sudan after the signing of a peace deal in 2005 paved the way for independence.
He wants the current forces removed and replaced with fresh officers.
“There were some people who had been in the market for about 20 years now, we have low [a] opinion about them now, so what we are going to do [is make] some changes in the market,” he said.
Late last year, a policeman opened fire in Bor Marol market killing, three Uganda business owners and injuring others.
The commissioner said a fresh police force should be deployed along with other security agents to help improve the situation in Bor Market.
“We are not going to deploy the police alone in the market, we are going to deploy other security agents that will improve the security,” he said.
Ruk has condemned the incident, saying it had seriously tarnished Jonglei’s reputation.
“We cannot survive in South Sudan without foreigners. The Ethiopian are our brothers,” he said.
Police commissioner General Thukul Ayom maintains the situation remains calm in Bor market, blaming shop keepers for loitering in the area after closing time.
Bor Marol market normally closes at 6pm, but a hotels, bars and drugs shops stay open until 9pm most nights.
Ayom has condemned the latest incident, vowing to prevent any further attacks.
(ST)