Commercial activities on the Aweil-Mairam road have been suspended following the killing of three civilians who were on their way to Sudan nearly two weeks ago. 

South Sudanese traders and their Sudanese counterparts in the border Warawar, a trade zone situated in the far north of Aweil East County in Northern Bah el Ghazal State, said no goods were coming from Sudan since the incident occurred.

“It is said that criminals kidnapped people and killed them and that caused the closure of the trade route. If this road is not working, it will affect this country (South Sudan) because there are no goods. If the trucks come, there will be goods and if they don’t come, the prices of scarce and limited commodities will skyrocket,’’ Nur-Aldin Mohammed, a Sudanese merchant, said.

He urged the governments in both countries to organize border trade and provide security. 

Another Sudanese trader in Warawar admits that they have not received any items from Mairam after the incident. Abdul-Fattah Al-Alamin says, “Nothing was coming from Mairam since that day. They (Sudanese) fear these people (Dinka Malual). They stopped. But today the government from this side (Warawar) has released vehicles going to Mairam.”

Abraham Garang, the Warawar chamber of commerce boss, said it reported the issue of the killings to authorities and that they were told that the matter is being handled by authorities in both countries. 

“We usually report problems on the trade route because people are killed and the South Sudanese government said it is their responsibility with the Sudanese government. They are the ones who said that they will solve the problem of the people who kill civilians. But I see they never manage anything, always people are killed,’’ Garang lamented.  

Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal’s police spokesman, Capt. Guot Guot Akol said the three people were killed after suspected armed Misseriya men captured a vehicle that was on its way to Sudan. According to the police, the report came after two South Sudanese escaped from the scene and opened a case at the Dinka customary court in Mairam.

The deceased are only identified as Bol Deng Akot, Chan Tong Deng, and Akol Akol Gau. All hailed from Aweil East County.

“What happened was that on 9 March, as usual, these civilians boarded vehicles from Warawar heading to Sudan for medical purposes. They disappeared in the middle of their journey until the news came to us on 12 March that a civilian car was detained by Misseriya men and they killed three people,’’ Guot said.

“We were in contact until we got the information from somebody from Mairam who confirmed that there was a citizen called Chan Chan Deng who reported himself to one of the Dinka chiefs in Mairam,” Guot explained. “We communicated with him and he told us that when they arrived on the Sudan border on 10 March, they were stopped and driven by the Misseriya at gunpoint. One tried to run away but was killed and the other two were also killed.”

Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State peacebuilding minister, Abuor Gordon Nhial, confirms that there are too many issues along the border and said she will meet with the joint border peace committees to review their mandate thoroughly.

She said the closure of the trade route will not only affect the Dinka Malual but it will also affect the Misseriya who bring their goods to the area.