Gunmen reportedly opened fire on this ambulance near Nesitu, injuring the driver and two passengers on Sunday, September 12, 2021 | Credit | Courtesy

A civil society activist has called on the government to ‘walk the talk’ on the killing of citizens along Juba-Nimule highway.

This came after an ambulance belonging to St. Mary Medical Center was attacked by gunmen on the road last Sunday.

The government has been urged to uphold its commitment and make stalking a crime.

In a statement sent to Eye Radio news room, Mr. Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of CEPO says armed men attacks on Juba-Nimule road are absolute violation of human rights.

“It has been documented that one day in the future some people will be held accountable for carrying out these acts of attacking civilians on Juba-Nimule road,” Yakani said.

He called on the government to get serious on matters of protecting civilians on Juba-Nimule highway.

“These incidents are seriously running out of control,” he added.

“It is time for the National Police Service to translate the plan they revealed one month ago to deploy more forces at a distance of 5 kilometers after every post or less to intercept any banditry along the Juba-Nimule highway to disrupt criminal activities. This is a good plan but it requires its operationalization now,” Mr. Yakani stressed.

Yakani urged the leadership in the country to take the protection of civilians seriously as the top priority of leadership.

Across the country, he says, “We are losing many lives to incidences of armed attacks in the form of road ambushes, cattle raiding and revenge attacks.”

The statement by the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization condemned the attack of the ambulance, and says attacking ambulances is a crime against humanity.

It says the increase of armed men attacking the civilians on Juba-Nimule is disturbing and the government needs to take responsibility to provide safety and security for the protection of the civilians from the attacks of the armed men on Juba-Nimule road.

This week, Dr. Xavier Okedi, the Director of St. Mary Medical Center, told the press that their ambulance came under attack near the national security farm around Jebelen along Juba-Nimule road.

The ambulance took a patient to Nimule after being referred to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda.

During the attack, three persons were injured as Mr. Omara Martin Taban, 18 years old, the nursing student at St. Mary’s Health Science Training Institute in Juba, was shot in the head, the driver, Baby Wani, 22 years old, was shot in the arm.

“The soldier who requested for a lift to reach another barrack was shot in the arm too,” Dr. Okedi explained.