By Mamer Abraham
South Sudan ambassador to Uganda has dismissed allegations of an attack at the Nimule border town.
Amb. Simon Juach Deng Juach told No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper the claims are baseless, and that the government is investigating the incident.
He said the speculations on social media were propaganda aimed at causing economic shocks.
“There has been speculation on social media that there was an attack on the Nimule border post, which is wrong; that group that called themselves the Joint Command Council doesn’t exist, and they don’t have any capacity; it is just a propaganda war to cause economic shock,” he noted.
He said the government is working to identify and prosecute, members of the Joint Command Council who threatened to attack Nimule border.
“Nobody should take them seriously, but the government is also trying to find out who they are, and they have to be prosecuted for creating such negative propaganda against the Republic of South Sudan,” he concluded.
The group that calls itself JCC released a statement last week urging residents of Nimule to evacuate so that they do not fall victim to an attack.
However, another press release was shared days later by a similar group that claimed to be the legit one. They claimed that the first press release that urged citizens to evacuate Nimule was from an impersonating group.
On October 14, 2023, Maj. Gen. John Luny, the acting police commissioner for Eastern Equatoria State, cleared the air that there was no mutiny at the Nimule.
“There is no other problem inside Torit; even the surroundings of the counties are quiet,” Gen. Luny told this outlet last week.
He called for calm from the citizens, stressing that the state police would launch an investigation into the motive behind the scary press release.