Juba, South Sudan,
May 26th, 2021 — The local government of Yei River County of Central Equatoria State has issued an order imposing a night curfew to minimize recurring incidents perpetrated by unknown armed groups during the middle of night in Yei River County.
This comes after a person was shot dead near gemtel in the Yei River County.
According to Yei River County Commissioner, Hon Agrey Cyrus Kanyikwa, his authority has recorded several cases of targeting killings, kidnapping and looting by unknown gunmen in Yei Town.
Kanyikwa said, the county authority has formed a joint security team to conduct a night patrolling in the area so that the full security is restored.
“This night patrol is to increase the level of security, the one of the alarms was that we experienced the death of one person that was shot dead near gemtel” County commissioner Kanyikwa said.
Commissioner Kanyikwa believes that the unknown gunmen are “a bunch of gang” who sleep during the day and mobilize themselves at night to create insecurity by killing, kidnapping and robbing innocent people.
Lt. Col. Michael Machar, Civil military relations director in Yei Town, said the joint operations team will commence patrolling right from 11:00pm up to 5:00am, meanwhile urging the civil population in Yei to observe the order.
Some residents in the area welcomed the decision but some activists and other residents doubt if the joint patrol team will not turn into another source of insecurity in the area.
Yei County has been going through fragile security for many years since the outbreak of civil war in the world’s youngest country in 2013. Despite the return of a shaky peace that was signed in 2018, security challenges in the area have never been addressed.
