Eastern Equatoria state government says it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of 2 humanitarian workers in Ikwoto County on Tuesday.
The victims who were employees of Caritas Luxemburg were reportedly shot dead at 6PM on August 9.
They were killed in an ambush along Tseretenya-Ikwoto road. A teacher who was traveling with the aid workers was also shot and wounded. One lady survived.
Queen Achan who survived the attack said the attackers sprayed the moving vehicle with bullets – killing the two instantly.
“We came from Tseretenya towards Ikotos and we met some gunmen who started intimidating the driver and immediately started shooting. We tried to run but they shot the two and wounded one person,” she narrated.
Ms Achan said she managed to escape to safety during the attack.
“The gunmen were very many, they came to the vehicle to finish us, but some people managed to run by chance.”
The deceased have been identified as Henry Loro, Wash Program Manager, and Oromo, Water and Hygiene Promoter based in Ikwoto and Lofus.
Peter Lokeng, the State Minister of Local Government said the incident is being investigated. He believes the killing maybe revenge-related.
“May be it is a kind of retaliation because nothing can come out of the blue. You remember the killing of other community members and the killing of the 2 teachers along the road,” he speculated.
Lokeng was referring to Saturday’s killing of two primary school headteachers in Lohila village, Ikwoto.
They were attacked by armed assailants while walking to Ikwoto Education Head office to pick up Primary Leaving Examination Certificates for their pupils.
There have been incidents of insecurity in Ikwoto over the last two months.
On July 13, unknown criminals torched three houses in Lorema village of Tanama Boma. Two people died and another was wounded during the incident.
Prior to that, the home of the Boma Chief was also burnt to the ground by unknown arsonists.
Ikwoto County Commissioner, Joseph Lokolong Jenisio confirmed the rise of insecurity in the area.
He said the latest incident happened “some 15 minutes’ walk” from the population centre.
Queen Achan has called on the state authorities to deploy security forces in the Ikwoto hotspots to protect civilians and humanitarian agencies.