Hand grenade

Police in Wau have arrested a suspect who detonated a grenade at the market in Jur River County, killing four people and injuring dozens to get back a loan.

Suspect Agiu Akot Agiu was allegedly angry at a man who denied paying him his money when he committed the act on Monday.

The incident at the Tharkueng black market left four people including a woman dead and 45 wounded.

After the deadly blast, Agiu Akot Agiu fled the crime scene.

But Major General James Simon who is acting police commissioner in Western Bahr el Ghazal state told Eye Radio this morning he was arrested last evening.

Suspect Agui is being held at the Suk-Hajar police station in Jur River.

According to Major General Simon, the police have opened a case against the suspect under Article 206 of the South Sudan Panel Code of 2008.

“As police producers, we have opened a case at Suk-Hajar Police Station and all the investigations have already been completed, and we have already taken inquires sayings of those who have been there at the scene of the incident,” said Simon.

“The suspect was on the run and now we have arrested him at the police headquarters of Kuajok, and now we have sent a car for him to be transferred from Kuajok to Wau here,” he said.

“We will complete the circle of the investigations with him, and then we will see what’s the reason for this incident, and what motivated him to make this incident.”

“If he did this incident under alcohol influence still we need to know more and maybe he has another reason for that, after that, we will refer him to the attorney general and then to the court.”

“He must face the law. Yes, it was a big case at the level of the state here.”

Western Bahr el Ghazal State has witnessed several explosions of grenades in the last three years.

In January 2020, at least 22 people were killed in a grenade explosion in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal state.

In December 2020, two girls were killed in a suspected grenade explosion in the Kwajina area of Jur River County

In November last year, a soldier detonated a hand grenade in public, killing himself and injuring two others in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Jur River County.