Jonglei: Ethiopian found dead in Bor market

January 6,2013 (BOR) - An Ethiopian businessman, believed to be a driver of taxi-motorbikes - known as boda boda in South Sudan - was found dead at a market in Jonglei state capital on Saturday morning, a national security officer told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

Location of Jonglei State in South Sudan.

"I saw the body hanging, some people killed him, but decided to hang the body, trying to deceive others that he committed suicide", said a national security officer, who was among the first people to come across the body in the market earlier in the morning.

"The cloth had blood stain on it, [if] it was a suicide the blood shouldn’t have come out", he told Sudan Tribune at the scene of the crime.

Police officials refused to give official comment, claiming that the information they had gathered was "crude" and not ready for media use before scrutiny.

However, officials in the department of investigation said they had arrested a number of people for questioning in relation to the murder. So far all the suspects have denied, the charges saying they have no knowledge of who killed him.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a junior officer who was on duty Sunday, said the investigation was ongoing, adding that another round of investigations would be launched to establish who committed the murder act.

A number of people, including relatives of the deceased and his neighbours have been summoned for questioning, some of whom are reportedly still under police custody. Their release, officials say, will only depend on their innocence.

Locals in the area, however, claimed the deceased was killed by Ethiopian traders living with him following a brawl, but no evidence exists to back this claim.

Sudan Tribune was not able to reach doctors at Bor hospital to verify the cause of his death death.

The young Ethiopian man is believed to have lived in Bor since 2010, having first worked in a bar and hotel owned by an Ethiopian businessman as a waiter, before he joined the boda-boda business. His name has not been made public by the Bor police.

Police said "nobody had shown up as his close relative", adding that most of the people who lived with him were just friends.