By Mary Poni
A boda-boda rider in Juba was shot and wounded during an internal fist fight with one of the civilians leaving him with serious injury in the stomach.
The police spokesperson Maj. Gen. Daniel Justin told the No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that the incident happened in Hai Mauna residential area yesterday (Thursday).
According to Justin, the boda-boda rider who got involved in the fight and injured is in critical condition which needs an emergency medical attention.
He said that the rider whose name was not disclosed is currently in Juba teaching hospital as the bullet got stacked in the stomach and he has to undergo stomach surgery.
The police spokesperson said that one among the two was trying to pull the gun from a policeman then the bullet shot him in the process.
He said that the patient was trying to grab a gun from one of the police working at Trojan petrol station who happened to go and witness the internal fight between boda-boda riders in the residential area of Mauna close to Trojan petrol station.
Meanwhile the self-installed chairperson of the so-called Boda-Boda association in Juba known by his prominent name Abraham said some boda-boda guys yesterday mobilized themselves upon hearing the fight and stormed the association office in Hai Mouna thinking that the confrontation was between a boda-boda rider and the association affiliated police.
“Immediately after the shooting of the boda-boda rider, the fellow boda-boda riders decided to mobilize themselves and went to the office of the association thinking it was one of the police from the association,” he told No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday.
He said the boda-boda riders were then later informed that the police working in Trojan Petrol station got involved in the incident after he went to witness the fight and was trying to stop it however, it has got no connection with boda-boda association office.
“The victim is at the hospital meanwhile the chairperson of the association including the police will do some investigations on the ground, on what and how the fight was all about,” Abraham noted.
According to the boda-boda association chairperson, the perpetrator has been taken into custody for more investigations though its crossfire shooting.
The boda-boda riders in Juba are having grudges with the self-declared chairperson of the so-called Boda-Boda Association Mr. Abraham who has been accused of forcefully and unlawfully extorting money from the boda-boda hustlers in the town with the help of police or security personnel affiliated to his non-beneficial association to the riders as they have on several fronts protested his conduct of business.
Abraham is said to have operated the association being its chairperson since independence forcing riders to subscribe to the association and pay fees without rendering them (boda-boda riders) any service or help in return. This has frustrated the boda-boda boys as their working relationship with the association can best be described as parasitic.