Lol state governor accuses SPLA-IO over Raja attack

June 17, 2015 (RAJA) – The governor of the newly created Lol state [Western Bahr el Ghazal], Rizik Zachariah Hassan, on Friday accused forces of the opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) of allegedly carrying out the recent deadly attack on his state capital, Raja, which led to the brief fall of the administrative headquarters.

Governor Hassan said the forces that captured the state capital on Wednesday were members of the SPLA-IO under the leadership of the First Vice President, Riek Machar, adding that their motive behind the attack was to gain recognition of presence in Bahr el Ghazal region.

“Their motive is to prove to the international community that they are around in Bahr el-Ghazal that is their only strategic motive,” Governor Hassan, who narrowly escaped, told Sudan Tribune on Friday in his first public statement since he deserted the state capital on Wednesday.

He said several officers and soldiers, including some of his personal bodyguards were killed during the attack.

“From my personal bodyguards, I lost seven of them that is what happened. We withdrew and we managed to take hold and liberate the town after one hour right now we have taken full control of Raja town,” said Hassan.

Meanwhile Raja county commissioner, Alamin Janga, said another motive of the attackers was a protest against the establishment of Lol state which put together people of Dinka Aweil and non-Dinka tribes of Raja under one state.

“The motive of this group is that they do not want Lol state, they want a separate state of Raja alone,” he said.

Commissioner Janga said the group voluntarily withdrew from the town after looting most of the town’s valuable including 30 million South Sudanese pounds from bank, contradicting governor’s statement and that of the army’s spokesperson, Brig Lul Ruai Koang, that they liberated the town by repulsing the attackers.

Raja county commissioner also said the attackers have gone away with 75 prisoners after they broke into Raja prison and released them, adding some of the inmates were serving a sentence of up to 20 years.

Till now, he added, it is not safe for civilians to return to Raja town, saying “all humanitarian workers have yesterday been evacuated from Raja to Awiel.”

On Thursday, the SPLM-O’s undersecretary for information and public relations national committee, William Ezekiel, condemned the attack, but said their forces were not involved.

Ezekiel denied the SPLA-IO forces have carried out the attack and called on the parties to establish cantonment of the forces to control what he called “unknown gunmen” from destabilizing the peace implementation process.

(ST)