Gunmen raid NGO office, steal cash and computers
November 21, 2015 (JUBA) – Unknown armed robbers on Friday stormed Nile Hope offices in Juba, stealing about $4,000, SSP 74,100, laptops and phones, officials said.
Martha Nyakueka Reath, who works with the organisation, said the incident occured at about 2:00pm local time.
“We were just seated on a round table and instantly the unknown gunmen came and threatened us with intention to loot the office. They put us at gun point,” said Reath.
Her attempts to phone someone for help failed as the robbers dragged her down.
Reath claims the robbers spoke foreign languages as they carried out their mission.
‘’Then they followed us and pushed the three of us into the toilet, telling us to lie down’’.
Nyibol Peter Kun, another staff for Nile Hope, told Sudan Tribune the robbers pulled her hair and forcefully demanded she hands over keys to the office safe.
“They drag me down and pull me with my hair; they force me to show them where the key for the safe was. I pleaded with them that please don’t kill me, and they mentioned the name of our finance officer,” she added.
Changkuoth Dieng Gunjack, an eye witness, said the robbers mainly targeted money.
“Actually I was seated on a chair just next to the door of the office, then I saw two gentlemen with plain clothes reaching me immediately after opening the gate. One of them slapped and pointed at me with a pistol. They caught the watchman on the neck and push us inside the office,” he said.
According to Gunjack, the armed robbers were six and held two AK-47 guns plus four pistols. He said they took his money and laptop and proceeding to break into the office.
The attack came after a week after Paul Biel Otoang, the executive director of Nile Hope was detained by security personal. He was, however, released without any charges.
Founed in 2004, Nile Hope is national nongovernmental organisation operating in the South Sudan’s states of Lakes, Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile. It runs programs on health, nutrition, protection, education, food security, livelihood and water and sanitation (WASH).
(ST)