3 people arrested for murder at Bentiu POC

JUBA – Police authorities in South Sudan’s Unity state have arrested three people suspected of killing a man at the former United Nations Mission in South Sudan protection of civilian site in Bentiu’s Rubkona town.

The head of the Bentiu camp at Rubkona, Bigoah Kuong, said on Tuesday that the criminals killed a man identified as Gattiek Nguen during clashes between different gang groups over a lady.

“What happened is that there was fighting between gangs over a young girl who is being contested by these youth groups within the camp. During the fighting, one person was killed,” Kuong explained, according to Radio Tamazuj.

“They were not using guns but sharp objects such as knives and wooden sticks. They fought until one lost his life and the police that was deployed within the camp did not intervene because the camp is a very large camp and the number of police is not enough to patrol all of it at night,” he added.

He said there are so many gangs of redundant youth who often clash violently and kill each other and appealed to the national government and international organizations to intervene by creating jobs and business opportunities by establishing vocational training centers and life skills training for the youth.

“In Bentiu IDP camp, there are many youths from Jonglei and Upper Nile who are redundant without jobs. This needs the national government and international organizations to create jobs, vocational training centers, and business skills to reform these youth,” Kuong said.

For his part, the director of the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Unity State, Colonel Chiok Ruai, confirmed that the police arrested suspects over the murder.

“The leadership of the state under Governor Monytuil agreed unanimously that anyone who kills a person must be arrested. Now, the police have arrested suspects and they are now in police custody,” Col. Ruai said.

He said the unrest in the Bentiu IDP camp was usually perpetrated by violent gangs but that the police had deployed to contain the situation.