A 26-years-old businessman identified as Moses Appa Karlo has been gunned down in the outskirts of Ikotos town in Ikotos County of Eastern Equatoria State.
Mr Appa who rare pigs in an area called Kekerek of Lonyori boma in Ikotos was on his way to the town after inspecting his animals before he was shot dead at around 8:00 pm
According to the youth leader of Ikotos County Mr Abraham Lokoromotoch, some armed area youth were heading to Momoria and met Appa on the way, shot him accidentally after he was allegedly asked about his identity but could not respond because of his hearing problems.
“Appa was coming from Kekerek then somewhere there they met you know he has some problem with hearing, he cannot hear well so I think these guys asked Appa who are you but he could not respond. So these guys thought maybe he is an enemy. Then they shot him and when they went closer to see they realized that this was their person, the same people who shot him took him to the hospital but this [Wednesday] morning he died”, the youth leader explained.
Charles Onen Lokwaruk, the chairperson of the civil society network appealed to the government to get involved directly in ending insecurity in the state.
The civil society activist also appealed to the citizens to participate in conflict resolutions and passed condolences to the bereaved families.
“We continue to advocate the government to restore peace among our community because when you look at this youth killed last night simply because these are the youth trying to move around to ensure security is maintained within the area and that is never the less it is the role of the government, we need to ask the government to involve directly to ensure security in the state”, he said.
He added that “Most of our communities in the state, are in conflict be it Ikotos, Lafon, or Magwi. It is the role of the government to restore peace among the people to make sure stability and tranquillity prevail among all citizens. Our youth are killing themselves either accidentally or purposely and we regret that. We need peace irrespective of where you come from, we want to live together as South Sudanese”.
The activist appealed for calm and urged the community to work collectively for peace.
“I appeal to the citizens in Ikotos and other counties to participate in peacebuilding among our community. We are sorry for the family, we are standing with them in this difficult time. My last message is, that we call upon all our communities in conflict to stop revenge and ambushes. We strongly urge an end to these because our community are finishing themselves, retarding development and peace implementation,” he explained.
