Hundreds of suspects with no combat training are getting rounded up and shipped off to Nasir County in Upper Nile State and thrust into forced military service in a region already scarred by ongoing clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and rebels since March 2025.
The spark for this crackdown was a horrifying viral video that surfaced on June 19, showing roughly nine alleged gang members gang-raping a 16-year-old girl in Shirkat, a gritty suburb on the edge of Juba. The footage ignited a firestorm of public outrage, with civil society groups demanding swift justice.
The government responded with a full-force joint operation to eliminate gang activity across Juba’s suburbs, leading to the arrest of 623 suspected gang members in Central Equatoria State according to Paulino Lokudu, the Deputy Governor. Members of notorious groups like 4SG Slime, West Coast, ODA, Killers Gang, and Black Devils were caught in the dragnet.
It was a welcome initiative aimed at protecting local communities. But what began as a targeted effort quickly spiralled into chaos. Indiscriminate arrests rocked suburbs like Gumbo-Shirkat, Gudele, Lologo, and other areas perceived to be harbouring gangs around Juba.
Within just three days, hundreds were detained in military facilities at Gieda and the Buluk police headquarters. Families claim many of those arrested had no gang ties—some were snatched from their yards as early as 7:00 p.m., others yanked from the streets while heading home from work.
Among the detained is Lord Gee, a rising star in South Sudan’s music scene and a radio host at Urban FM. A confidential source told this publication that he has been transferred to the conflict hotspot after a day in detention. His loved ones insist he was swept up by mistake.
“He is a talented rapper and a dedicated journalist with a show on Urban FM, he is deeply missed. His family is worried and urgently seeking any information about his whereabouts,” wrote Kawaja Revolution, a fellow musician. “If anyone knows anything that could help, please reach out. We all want to see Lord G home safe.”
On July 4th, 2025, confidential sources revealed that over 800 suspects were crammed into detention centres. Tragedy struck at Gieda, where five individuals—Kenyi Wani Debit, Paris Akim Akim, Manut Akech, and two others whose names remain unknown—were found dead, reportedly strangled by fellow inmates.
On Friday, a list of 200 cleared suspects was sent to Gieda Military Barracks, but only 20 were released despite authorities collecting 250,000 SSP from those families in lieu of release. Whispers soon spread that an unknown number of detainees were shipped to the volatile frontlines in Nasir and Ulang, where government forces are locked in battle with opposition groups.
One of the detainees who spoke anonymously upon release from the detention facility said transfers to Upper Nile were done in four batches per day. When contacted, SSPDF spokesperson Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang declined to comment.
This isn’t the first sign of heavy-handed tactics. Following a spike in inter-communal violence and a state of emergency in Warrap State and Mayom County, the SSPDF announced plans for “forceful disarmament” of armed youth, hinting at coerced military service for those who don’t comply.
Alongside this, the army is on a recruitment drive to bolster its ranks with 4,000 new soldiers, including 3,000 for its Riverine Force to secure the Nile River under the slogan: “Serve Your Nation, Build a Professional and Modern Army.”
Under this exercise, each of South Sudan’s ten states must supply 240 recruits, with administrative areas contributing 200 each to meet the 3,000 target. Another 1,000 are needed for the army’s peacekeeping unit, with recruitment set to unfold over six months in a country where government workers, including organized forces, go for over a year without salaries.
The government’s move to indiscriminately arrest residents drew a scathing rebuke from the public, including Nathaniel Oyet Pierino, the self-exiled First Deputy Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly and Acting Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).
“Forceful recruitment in the name of niggers [gang members] and sending the children to frontline is a human rights issue. The children are underage and have never tried. No law in South Sudan condemned kids to the war front,” he declared. “A young boy, whether he was a member of a gangster, must be found guilty of an offence, convicted and sentenced. Why would a desperate regime send them to the frontline without trials?”
Oyet did not hold back, pinning the rise of gangs on the government’s failures. “It was the failure of the government to create jobs and provide education services to the society. Gangsters are a product of lack of education and orientation, unemployment and poor governance,” he said.
Ateny Akuch-Pagarau, a social and political commentator, argued that many of the suspects are victims of economy-induced circumstances which left them with limited options but to join groups.
The majority of these so-called gangsters who have been taken to Nasir today are just teenagers. The oldest among them might be 25 or 27. These are children of poor families—families crushed by the economic crisis. Their parents couldn’t afford to send them to school. They had no mentors, no direction. Society shut its doors on them, so they adopted a life none of them truly wished for.
South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution of 2011 stands firmly against forced recruitment, safeguarding personal liberty, prohibiting forced labour, and protecting children. These actions violate Articles 12, 13, 17, 18, and 19, as well as international law, casting a dark shadow over the nation’s youth and their future.
