Major-General Elia Costa, the police commissioner in Jonglei State - AMDISS/Juma - Oct. 4, 2022

A foreign fish trader was shot dead by an armed man at a fish market in Bor town of Jonglei State on Friday, police said, adding that an investigation has been launched to ascertain the motive.

The deceased is identified as Eric Yassin, a 32-year-old Ugandan national.

He was reportedly killed in Anyidi Payam of Bor County, at the bank of the river Nile.

Jonglei State Police Commissioner Major General Elia Costa said the deceased and three countrymen were seated at their business point next to the river when the assailant walked in and shot one of them.

“On date 19^th January 2024, at 12:30 am, we received a report that a man by the name Eric Yassin, aged 32 years from Uganda was shot by unknown criminals, and he passed away in his place of work,” Costa told Eye Radio in an interview.

According to the police, the surviving colleagues said they were asleep at midnight when the gunman materialized, pointed a gun at them and asked who they were, before shooting the victim and running away.

“They were four sleeping in one place, so according to the statement, they said they were sleeping under a tent, four of them, then that person came, and the deceased asked him who are you then he shot him and ran away.”

General Costa said a police case has been filed in Bor town and security agents are still investigating the motive behind the murder.

“He sells fish along the riverside in Jarweng of Anyidi Payam in Bor County, so the reason is unknown. We opened a case in Bor town and then we took the statement of the people with him.”