Police is calling on South Sudanese to cooperate to deal with bad boys in the city. But a Juba resident says it is a waste of time to cooperate with the police because some of them support the activities of these boys terrorizing the city.
In South Sudan, some young boys form groups and involve themselves in bad activities including killing, fighting and robbery.
These boys popularly called niggers also fight or kill their fellow colleagues whenever two groups meet.
Deputy Police Spokesperson Col James Dak Karlo urges parents and the host community to report such cases to the police.
‘We should all fight these niggers. Starting from the father, mother, sisters, brothers and the community are all involve to fight them because these niggers are our sons and daughters’.
He warns that the law has no excuse.
‘Any child apprehended below 18 years old, will go to the juvenile centers and those above 18 will go to prison. Now we have five sectors. Each center has a court. Whoever commits a crime from organize forces, will be tried where the crime is committed. Let us say a crime has been committed in Magaten for example, it is one of the sectors among the five centers. So Magaten has a local court there mandated to try that person’.
A Juba resident who prefers to hide his identity agrees to fight the bad boys. But he says it is like a waste of time because the law is not being implemented in the country.
‘Well, that’s correct. Unfortunately some police are working with the bad guys. As a community you arrest a bad boy and take him to the police station only to be released within hours. Again these same niggers will come and attack you. In Other places like Terekeka, the bad boys are well controlled and the security situation is tightened and everybody is living in peace. But in Juba here, i have seen these guys fighting each other, slashing each other with machete and reports are made in the police but nothing has been done’.
He calls on the police to enforce the law.
‘So if they {police} have come out that people should fight the bad guys, then they should enforce the law. That’s what I can say’.
He testifies that some of his family members joined these bad groups but it requires a lot of procedures to take them to prison.
‘The truth is that, I have some youths from my family and some of them have joined the niggers. We tried to see that, this boy should be taken to prison. But it is not easy to take somebody to prison these days because the police usually say it is you the father or relative that should talk to your child. But if a child is getting off track, then the law should take it cost. Because that child is not only dangerous to the family but also to the community’.
He adds that one of his family members who joined the bad boys has been injured with a machete three times. Report was made and no action has been taken.
‘Some of them are injured with machetes. Another one was cut three times. The cases were reported to the police but even the suspect was known and has not been arrested up to this day. So it’s just like a waste of time. The police will just take money, money but they will not arrest them. The disadvantage is that the same person can injure several people. Because each time he cuts, he is not arrested. If the people go to the police, the officer will take money or arrest the suspect. But he will be released and will go back to commit another crime. So the victims will say if that is the case, I have to revenge. So this cycle continues because the law is not being enforced.’
A Deputy Head Teacher in Hai Cinema area also added her voice to the issue. She says the young boys are becoming a threat to her school.
However, the Deputy Police Spokesperson James Dak says the officers have put great effort to reduce criminal activities in the country especially the capital Juba.