Illegal guns and poverty worsen crime in Eastern Equatoria State

Police in Eastern Equatoria State attributed the growing insecurity to poverty and the possession of illegal weapons by unauthorized individuals in the community.

Commissioner of Police, Major General James Monday Enoka, told Radio Tamazuj that civilians are more armed than organized forces, creating a threatening security situation in the state.

The state has recently recorded several communal conflicts that resulted in loss of lives and property, which authorities attribute to revenge killings and cattle rustling.

“There is poverty. Someone who has nothing to eat will steal because they don’t have the ability or the work. Several reasons explain this growing insecurity. Cattle theft is increasing because young people want cows to marry and they have weapons,” he explained. “They can’t go hungry when they have weapons to loot. The presence of weapons in the hands of civilians plays an important role in looting and community conflicts. These are the signs and it is the role of the police to prevent crime.

General Monday said his forces were doing their best with the graduation of a new group of police officers tasked with maintaining law and order.

“We have opened six police stations in Torit and Magwi counties. We have also opened a training center here in Torit County, in Himodonge, and we are training community police to reduce crime. We have formed joint security forces comprising the army, police and National Security Service (NSS) to fight criminals,” he said. “We have arrested several offenders and this year we have arrested more than 700 and we have taken them to court and they have been convicted of different crimes. »

“We are also engaged in civil-military relations training to create trust between civilians and men in uniform and we also hold several weekly meetings to understand the roles of different government units,” General Monday added. .

Asked about the challenges police face in fighting crime, the police chief said civilians have more weapons and ammunition than police.

“The reason is because of this arms embargo which prevents South Sudan from importing weapons. So we have few weapons and bullets and it is a big challenge. We are supposed to be more armed than civilians to fight crimes. Second, we do not have enough vehicles to fight crime. Dealing with insecurity requires a lot of travel and even with the few vehicles we have, we cannot do it due to lack of money,” he explained. “In addition, some places do not have telephone networks, which paralyzes police work in certain areas. We also have poor roads which affect security work because security personnel cannot react quickly to a situation. Finally, the state is very large and requires a large force to manage security.

He said the country is short of money and civil servants are suffering because they have gone for 10 months without receiving a salary.

“However, there is no threat in South Sudan because the government is present in all states. In Eastern Equatoria State, our government is strong and is doing everything possible to ensure that the organized forces do their part. work,” General Monday said.

He encouraged civilians to respect law and order, stop taking the law into their hands and report crimes to the relevant authorities.