A section of Mauna residential area that was robbed by the alleged members of the organized forces on Monday night, Nov 9, 2020 | Credit | Michael Daniel/Eye Radio

Residents of Mauna residential area in Juba have accused men in uniform of terrorizing and extorting money from them at night.

Some residents reported that on Monday night, they were attacked by armed men believed to be members of the various organized forces.

The residents were robbed of their valuables.

They say the armed men broke into makeshift houses, those with iron sheet doors and homes whose fences are made of bamboo.

Those who spoke to Eye Radio say they have been robbed of money, phones, stereos, bed sheets and other valuables.

One of the residents said the armed men used a stone to break into her house where she was sleeping with her 16-year old daughter and 70-year older mother.

“They then held a gun against my head. Others started shooting in the air. I urinated on myself out of fear,” Mary (not real name), recollected the night robbery. “They took all the valuables we had.”

Others were reportedly forced to run around the compound while the armed officers searched for valuable items in their houses.

Some residents have described the robbers as men in “black police uniforms.”

When Eye Radio visited the area on Tuesday, most of the homes that were attacked are near the T-junction to Rock City, along Jebel-Customs road.

It is also at close proximity to the Mauna police station.

The Chief of the area, Godfrey Alfred, expressed concerns over the attacks and urged the government to investigate the matter.

“I am appealing to the government to provide two patrol vehicles so in case such thing happens we can get rescues.”

Attempts to get the police to respond to this story were not immediately successful.

However, President Salva Kiir and the former minister of defense, Kuol Manyang, who is now the senior advisor, have blamed some of the night robberies on members of the organized forces, including NSS, police and SSPDF.

Manyang described them as “weak-hearted” soldiers.

Some observers believe that some soldiers commit night crimes because of their poor living conditions as the government offers them little salary that is paid irregularly, sometimes after nearly six months.

A private in the army receives as little as about $5 per month.

The government gets both oil- and nonoil revenues in hundreds of millions of dollars monthly.

But all these monies are mismanaged by senior government officials, including the presidency –