Murder, abduction, hijack in South Darfur capital

The South Darfur capital Nyala witnessed a number of incidents over the past two days.

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed merchant Abdelazim Mekki in his house at El Jir district, his neighbour reported to Radio Dabanga on Tuesday morning.

He added that a group of gunmen in a Land Cruiser seized a trader at the Southern Market in El Wehda district on Monday. “They robbed him of his belongings, and took him with them to an unknown destination.”

On Monday afternoon, the vehicle of Mustafa El Rabee, Director of the South Darfur Radio and Television Corporation, was stolen in front of the state Ministry of Culture and Information.

Emergency measures

The former South Darfur governor, Maj. Gen. Adam Jarelnabi, attempted to curb the increasing lawlessness in the state with the introduction of a number of emergency measures in July 2014.

An Emergency Court was established in August, to speedily try offenders for the measures that banned unregistered vehicles, the carrying of weapons by civilians, the wearing of a kadamool (a scarf covering the face) and the riding of a motorcycle by more than one person.

Soon after his appointment in May last year, Governor Adam El Faki vowed to curb the rampant insecurity in the state “by all means”.

The former Governor of South Kordofan urged the population of Nyala in July to resist any assailant, “even if you have to kill him”, and told them to provide the security forces in the state with “any information about outlaws and their hideouts”. He warned them “not to harbour any bandit”.

He also pledged to carry out “surprise inspections in those districts, suspected to harbour dens of criminals. Any perpetrator arrested will immediately be deported to Port Sudan to be tried there, so that his relatives will not be able to free him.”