SSPDF soldier accused of killing student in Leer County clash with SPLA-IO
BENTIU – A South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) soldier has been accused of shooting and killing a Senior Four (S.4) student in Guat Payam of Leer County in South Sudan’s Unity State.
James Yoach Bading, the SPLA-IO military commissioner in Leer County, confirmed the incident and identified the victim as a student from Lual Village. He claimed the student was killed on Monday by one of the SSPDF soldiers deployed to Guat Payam to provide security for a newly appointed payam administrator.
According to Yoach, the deployment followed the appointment of a new administrator by Leer County Commissioner Stephen Taker Riak Dong of the SPLM-IG. He said no explanation had been provided for the student’s killing.
“The S.4 student was killed in Guat Payam by an SSPDF soldier when government forces were deployed to provide protection for the new payam administrator,” Yoach said.
He stated that after learning of the deployment, SPLM-IO authorities sought to avoid confrontation with government forces and communicated their concerns to local officials.
“We informed the payam administrator to leave the area because we did not want fighting with government forces,” he said. “We also sought engagement with the county commissioner, but our efforts were rejected.”
Yoach said the opposition’s decision to avoid clashes was partly influenced by ongoing humanitarian activities in the area, including food distribution by the World Food Programme (WFP) to communities that had reportedly gone nine months without assistance since August last year.
He further alleged that residents later recovered the student’s body after the shooting.
“The body was found by residents after he had been shot dead by an SSPDF soldier,” Yoach claimed.
The SPLM-IO official accused government forces of targeting civilians, alleging that such incidents had occurred repeatedly since the outbreak of conflict in South Sudan in 2013.
However, Leer County Commissioner Stephen Taker Riak Dong denied allegations that government forces had attacked SPLA-IO positions in Guat Payam.
The commissioner said tensions arose after SPLA-IO authorities allegedly appointed a separate payam administrator despite the existence of an administrator already assigned by the government.
“What happened in Guat Payam is that the SPLA-IO appointed a new payam administrator while the government-appointed administrator had been serving there for the past two years,” Taker said.
He further alleged that office property, including tables, chairs, and official stamps belonging to the government administrator, had been forcibly taken.
Regarding the student’s death, Taker said the victim was killed during an exchange of fire between the two sides and that it remained unclear who was responsible.
“One person was killed in the crossfire, and no one is aware of who actually killed him,” he said.
The circumstances surrounding the student’s death could not be independently verified, and no statement from the SSPDF spokesperson was immediately available.