Army general gets $1000 to leave illegally-occupied house in Juba, turns down offer  

JUBA – A South Sudan army commander who threatened to kill police earlier this month after being asked by law enforcement officers to leave a illegally-occupied house in Nimra Talata has turned down a $1000 offer to voluntarily leave the house which he has been illegally occupying since December 2013, according to a senior police source.

On November 5, Sudans Post, quoting two police sources – reported that an unidentified South Sudan People’s Defense Force commander was threatening to kill police officers who were trying to enforce a court ruling that ordered him to vacate a civilian house in Juba that he has been illegally occupying since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013.

“Last week, a court ordered him to leave the house and hand it back to the owner. He refused and clearly told the court that he will not comply with the orders. We thought he would change his mind, we were wrong,” one police officer told Sudans Post on condition of anonymity at the time.

“We went to him this afternoon to ask him to leave this house which has been copying by force since December 2013. A number of police officers including me as well as members of the national security service, went to him tell him to pack his bags. What we found is that he refused to leave and now he is threatening to kill anyone who would try to enter the house and this is the reason for the tensions,” he added.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Monday, a police source close to the legal house owner said the army commander has refused to leave the house, despite being offered a sum of over SSP 620,000 by the landlord, saying the police have moved out of the issue which he said has since been referred to the army command in Bilpam.

“The owner of the house has offered the general 625,000 South Sudanese Pounds to go and settle somewhere, and he has rejected that. We have referred the case to the army because he has soldiers and if we try to arrest him by force, this may lead to confrontation that will have negative effects,” the police source said.