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Fr. Palcide shot by unknown gunmen on South Sudan road
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Fr. Placide Majambo working in Mapuordit mission, in South Sudan’s Lake State, was shot by unknown gunmen. The incident happened on Friday, 11 September, at around 6:00 pm at some point between Makur Agar and Agany villages in Lake State. The missionary was in a mission vehicle driving back from Rumbek together with two other Comboni Missionaries and a few other passengers when suddenly three young men, one of them apparently in military uniform, appeared from the roadside’s high grass holding guns.
Fr. Placide Majambo,
first on the left
in the picture.
The armed individuals appeared to attempt to stop the car. The driver, however, aware of tribal conflicts in the area and knowing that three passengers of different tribes were in the car, slammed on the accelerator leaving the armed individuals behind. At this point the passengers heard gunfire as if shot into the air, but the armed young men had actually opened fire against the mission car.
The shots broke the back glass of the getting away vehicle and hit a Comboni priest who was sitting just near the back door. A bullet went through the left side of the missionary’s lower back. The car continued its course until it reached Agany village, where the vehicle’s occupants asked for help.
The wounded missionary was admitted in Mapuordit Mission Hospital two hours later for medical care. He is able to walk despite the wound and the pain it causes. The priest will need to be evacuated for further treatment, though he is in a stable condition. No one else was hurt in the incident.
It is not clear whether this incident was a failed attempted road robbery or if it had any connection with the ongoing tribal clashes in the area. Car ambush and roadside robberies are on the increase in South Sudan. Drivers are advised to move in convoy or avoid driving during evening hours.
Praying for peace in Sud Sudan.