One dead, 13 detained in Sudan church school raid

One person was killed, another wounded, and 13 others arrested in a police raid on an Evangelical Church school in Omdurman on Monday.

On Tuesday Dr Juma Kunda told Radio Dabanga that “a group of people” he did not name signed illegal contracts with an investor to turn the school in Sudan’s second city into investment land for a period of 25 years.

The situation escalated events when the investor tried to seize the school by force, but the youth of the church resisted and staged a sit-in in the church for two weeks.

He said that at noon on Monday a police force arrived, raided the Omdurman Evangelical School adjoining Omdurman Presbyterian Church, arrested 13 of the protesters and took them into custody at the central Omdurman jail on charges of trespassing.

He pointed out that the police returned with a group that signed the contract to the site. One of them stabbed Yunan Abdallah to death and seriously wounded another who was transferred to hospital.

He said that all those arrested were subsequently released on bail except for two who remain in police custody.

He described the situation now as stable after the deployment of police who secured the site.

Kunda called on the Sudanese government to implement the laws it has set for itself, including the freedom of religion included in the Constitution.

He also called on the international community to place the issue of Christians and freedoms in Sudan as a priority.