Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Police Commissioner Major General Philip Madut Tong. (Photo: Radio Tamazuj)

17 gang members apprehended, sentenced in Aweil

Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Police Commissioner Major General Philip Madut Tong on Tuesday confirmed the arrest, sentencing, and imprisonment of 17 members of local gangs, commonly known as “niggers,” on Thursday last week in Aweil town.

Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Police Commissioner Major General Philip Madut Tong on Tuesday confirmed the arrest, sentencing, and imprisonment of 17 members of local gangs, commonly known as “niggers,” on Thursday last week in Aweil town.

The state police chief told Radio Tamazuj that the gang member last week sought permission from local authorities to hold a party which the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) discovered was a function to honor their mates who died in the recent past.

Gen. Madut said that when the police intervened, the gang members responded with violence and clashed with them, forcing the police to arrest 17 of them and arraign them in court.  

“The niggers’ activities are prohibited here in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State but last Thursday, the gangsters requested approval to conduct their party and the CID later detected that they were trying to commemorate their fallen heroes and heroines,” he explained. “They wore black attires and were brandishing machetes as a sign of commemorating their deceased members who were killed in the last few years. After we got the information about the party, we (police) stopped the party because it is unacceptable to allow them to go ahead with commemorating their fellow criminals.”

“So, our police forces arrested 9 boys and 8 girls and all of them were taken to court and they were fined SSP 40,000 each or three months in prison,” Gen. Madut added.

An Aweil-based women’s activist, Angelina Agau Thiep, applauded the local authorities and the police for checking and containing criminal activities in the state. She said the police were justified in arresting the gang members if their party was meant to create insecurity and violence.

“If the celebration was done in the form of mobilization for more revenge or to cause insecurity in the community, then they should be detained and be held accountable for their behavior,” she said.