By Ephraim Modi Duku Sokiri
A brief gunfire, Friday Morning at the residence of Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga that shook Juba’s “Amarat” neighborhood left two bodyguards of VP Igga dead and two others nursing wounds.
One disgruntled bodyguard of Dr. Igga reportedly indiscriminately opened fire at his colleagues killing one instantly and injured other two before he took his own life by the barrel of the gun.
South Sudan National Police Services (SSNPS) Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Daniel Justin confirmed the incident to No. Citizen Daily Newspaper.
“The gunshots were at around 9:30AM. A conflict erupted between the guards of Vice President Dr. Wani Igga and one of them started shooting at his colleagues,” he told this outlet.
According to the police spokesperson, one of the deceased bodyguards was Lieutenant Colonel, shot by his colleague who ended up committing suicide by turning the gun against himself.
Bodies of the deceased bodyguards were taken to a mortuary while another Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain are undergoing treatment of gunshot wounds, in Juba.
“One Lt. Colonel was shot dead and two others, another Lt. Colonel and a captain were wounded on the hands and the accused shot himself dead,” Maj. Daniel narrated.
According to the police spokesperson, eleven cartridges of bullets were recovered on the ground at the scene of the crime.
“When we went to the scene, we got like eleven bullets on the ground and the wounded are taken to hospital and we took the bodies to the mortuary,” he said.
The Police Spokesperson added that the case is now under investigation and facts may be unveiled thereafter but he feared that social media might distort the information.
“We are now investigating to find out what was the root cause of the incident because the Social Media people are now talking a lot,” said Maj. Gen. Justin.
The incident followed similar episode in the neighbouring Uganda where a bodyguard shot himself after killing a government minister, early this month in an apparent private dispute, according to ABC News.
In 2011, a senior minister in the government of South Sudan was shot dead in his office, just two days after the final results of the South Sudan’s referendum.