By Philip Buda Ladu
The spokesperson of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang has stated that the terrifying Tuesday night heavy gunfire in Juba was ignited by two drivers who defied some security checks.
The SSPDF spokesperson narrated that two separate, related incidents led to the rain of bullets, which rocked Juba City.
Addressing the media during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at the Buluk ICT Police Center, Gen. Lul said only one suspect from the incidents got wounded, and the other escaped unhurt.
He told journalists that the first incident involved a Primo car whose driver, identified as Moulana or Advocate, Santino Simon Abang, refused to stop at the Kololo night security checkpoint, which prompted the first shooting at around 10 o’clock.
Lul stated Advocate Abang had two underage girls, whom, he picked up from Konyo-Konyo on the understanding that he was to drop them off in Mangaten suburb.
However, the young girls gave a contrary account to the police, saying they were just going to a nearby shop in Konyo-Konyo to buy some stuff, but Moulana put them in his car in the name of giving them a lift but sped off, leading to an unfortunate incident for them.
“The young girls said no; they were heading to a nearby shop, so they were given a lift all the way from Konyo-Konyo until Kololo,” Lul told journalists.
“In Kololo, we have a checkpoint, so Moulana Abang was stopped at Kololo, but for some reasons he didn’t stop. He continued driving and shooting started from Kololo up to the Seventh Day Roundabout,” he narrated.
According to Gen. Lul, these young girls were later recovered from Abang’s car after he fled and left the car, and the two girls were recovered by the security forces and taken to the police station.
SSPDF spokesman further stated the second shooting was witnessed near Dr. John Garang Mausoleum, around the ministry’s road junction near the JICA water plant.
It involved a tinted Pajero vehicle registration number 008 JVMM, a car belonging to the SSPDF, driven by the second suspect, Tong Yai Akoon.
Like his co-accused, Yai also fled the security checkpoint next to the JICA water plant project site near parliament premises, triggering the second sporadic shooting.
According to his account, he was leaving Custom for his home and driving through the Seventh Day Roundabout when he got the woeful moment.
Gen. Lul narrated that Mr. Yai was stopped at the Dr. John Garang Mausoleum near the JICA water project site, but he did not stop.
According to the SSPDF spokesman’s narrative, Mr. Yai claimed that he didn’t see the security forces that were doing the check, and he drove off unaware that there was a security force that was tasked with checking his vehicle.
“So he went, and the only thing he heard were gunshots, so after being fired at, he was shot and wounded at his left shoulder. That was the only thing that we discovered, and security forces that were manning the Seventh Day Roundabout came and rushed the victim to Juba Teaching Hospital,” Lul stated.
The wounded suspect was, however, stable, as seen by journalists during the press conference yesterday; his hand was not broken, and the bullet went through with no fracture, according to the doctor’s report.
Gen. Lul further noted that Advocate Abang accepted that at all the checkpoints, starting from SPLM House, he didn’t stop, meaning he didn’t comply with the request for his vehicle to be checked.
He stated that the gunfire that continued in different proximities to the scenes, including in Tongpiny, Munuki, and Hai Tarawa, was then random shootings by other undisciplined soldiers in reaction to the prior incidents.
The authorities said since then, order has been restored while the suspects and the joint operations forces involved in the incidents are undergoing investigation to determine the exact reasons behind the continued sporadic shootings.
In his media briefing, Lul empathized with the importance of informing the public about the nighttime chaos, stating, “it’s in the best interest of the people of South Sudan to know what happened in Juba on July 23, 2024, and it is also in the best interest of the region to know exactly what transferred.”