Locals looted a store belonging to the UN World Food Program in Raja, Western Bahr el Ghazal.
The looting took place on Saturday after WFP decided to move elsewhere the food stored in Raja, a local source told SCR News via e-mail.Last January, WFP stored a good quantity of sorghum – known locally as dura – in Raja anticipating some displacement from a possible border crisis.
Instead, the food has been used to feed school children, pregnant women, breast feeding mothers, people suffering from TB and leprosy and other vulnerable groups.
Meanwhile, WFP decided to move the stored food to another location and sent some lorries from Wau to that end.
On Saturday, five lorries were loaded to move the dura to Wau but protesters did not allow them to leave Raja. They wanted the food to be used locally.
The drivers took the vehicles to the Police station for protection.
Security forces tried to control the situation by shooting into the air.
A policeman shot a captain in the head by mistake.
Protesters then started looting the WFP stores, tearing the tents to rugs.
The security forces disappeared from the scene and locals took home all the sorghum bags, the iron structures of the store tents and the pallets used to pile up the bags.
Our source said over the phone that this morning Raja was calm.
The police captain shot during the protests by a colleague was operated and is out of danger.