By Dhieu
On 16 Dec 2013, I heard of fights in the Capital of South Sudan from my colleague Chol Wech, he told me of everything that conspired in Juba in the previous night. He said that the presidential guards divided themselves and fought based on their tribal lines, we did not work that day though we pledged to open later in the day. I tried to verify the news from my relatives and friends but their numbers could not go through because of poor network.
Gen Salva Kiir appeared on SSTV in military uniform that day after I went to Canal Hotel, He talked of security situation in Juba calmed by his administration and said that what had just happened was an attempted coup by the former Vice President Riek Machar, he promised the citizens of South Sudan that, everything will return to normal and the people behind the atrocities will be brought to justice.
That day the situation in Bortown was calm but fears of horrible memories of 1991 Bor Massacre never faded in the minds of Bor community residents at large. I went to bed that evening praying that everything will be ok come the next day, on 17 Dec 2013 I was woken up by a Big Bang on my doorstep by a neighbor at 4:00 am in the morning, I was not shocked at all because I knew something would happen sooner or later, I rushed to put on my trouser since I've heard of stories of people who had escaped from the attack and run to the bush just to realize they were naked or in underwear.
When I opened my door I found people running and the neighbor told me that the Nuer attacked the military barrack of Panpandiar at 1:00 am, and added that they first run away at 1:00 am and later returned, I then analyzed the situation and decided to stay till morning because you don't know what can happen in the dark, one perhaps could ran into other harms apart from what he was running away from.
In the morning I woke up early enough to see the attackers, when I reached the road, everyone was in rush to get connected to their beloved ones in case anything happens, that was exactly what I was doing, as I trekked for some distance fortunately I got a lift from a friend, the fuel was not enough in the bike so we headed towards the harbor of River Nile which was the only place gas was likely to be found because of the scarcity of fuel in the town following the attack in the previous night at the military base, Deng who was riding with me told me that Gatdet seized Panpandiar and that is why everyone is in panic since the barrack is near Bortown, one never know whether he can attack the civilians here in Bor.
First , I said to myself, could this be a repetition of history?. I came home to see my mom, she was very worried about everything, it wasn't hers alone in fact everyone was worried because there is no where to ran to since Bortown is located along the river, on Facebook it was the agenda, relatives and friends were calling every now and then, I felt relieved that afternoon because no sound of gunshot was being heard from Juba or in Bortown and the governor of the state had just arrived that morning so everything seemed under control, John Koang is from Nuer, I thought they would listen to him and stop any sketches of attacks, but no I thought wrong. Nuer had bigger picture than what John stands for, they don't want mere governors, they want the post of the president.
That day Bortown commissioner Agot Alier wanted to talk to a group of Nuer in Chinuerben estate, without surprise his car was shot at by Nuer, but managed to escape. Thank God he did, he was lucky not unlucky like two brothers from Kongor and one person from Makuach Payam who were confirmed dead by the mayor Nhial Majak Nhial as a result of attack in the previous night in block 4 by Nuer.
Seconds dragged into minutes and minutes mutated into hours, it was at 5 pm that day when I realized the situation might not be good, my instinct told me to take some cash through the ATM, So I headed to the bank, unfortunately it wasn't working, I asked our armed guard for the keys to the generator and surrendered them unconditionally, after I turned it on , it took less then five minutes to finish the transaction. When I was done, I turned it off and handed the keys to our guard Manyok. And cautioned him to flee should anything threaten his life, those were the last minute messages anyway. When I stepped out of the bank and took a walk for a minute, gunshots were everywhere like showers of rain and everyone was heading to River Nile, I kept my head down for safety, though I was confused I knew where I was going to, I could hear gunshots from that direction but I said to myself, I must go to church compound that is the place where my treasures belong, my mom an auntie!. I could not run away without them.
When I reached the compound, the velocity and sound of gunshots increased, after a couple of hour there was no sound of gunshots heard, I then logged on Facebook and updated my status, "there is no fight as we speak, we don't know who is in control of the town ,fate awaits us." and "tomorrow gonna be a better day". Everyone was anxious about the whole thing. Those things happened on 18 Dec 2013, I wanted to close my eyes and take it for a dream, but no!, everything was happening before me and I had to face the truth, decisions deserted me and faith was a thing of the religion at that time. I decided to sleep in the church and never mind of what tomorrow holds for me, in the middle of the night I was woken up and told that everyone has left the church due to fear that Nuer would take vengeance on us since there are rumors that some of them were killed while seeking refuge in their church when the fight broke out in Juba.
It took me some time to wrap my brain around it and took a big decision of my life, I wanted to refuse to accept the facts but I later consent. Muscles begins to vibrate more and the brain was on its highest intellect. We decided to move out at 12:20 am on 19 Dec 2013 instead of being found in the morning by blood thirty Nuer, when we stepped out, my heart did not even jerk a bit because I knew no one was moving at night. I lead the crew to the River and moved along it as we move, my cousin Mabior Gai Deng called and wished me good luck. We trudged for 3 hours till we reached Areck, while on the way, we would get lost and later recovered our route. When we reached Areck I tried to response to some comments on Facebook since we found a multitude of people who fled before us and were now taking rest before their big journeys. I told the crew to rest too. I did not have a wink after that because it was cold plus mosquitoes were giving us hell.
The morning seemed bright on the same date 19 and people were optimistic about the situation, while everyone was praying and hoping for the best, the unthinkable happened. The armed group which was later confirmed loyal to the former Vice President Riek Machar shot at the civilians, we did not wait for the bullets to reach where we were, I told the crew not to overreact and move slowly to prevent other harms from other feign sources, we walked in fear with other group of civilians, we again trudged to another safer place called Pagook in Buong boma, when we reached after 4 hours. We headed to "tooch" swampy area along River Nile. To reach a dry ground, you must first tramp through muddy waters, that was exactly what we did not to hesitate to do. On the dehydrated grounds there stood some small bushes, we clear thorns under them and took rest. Food was history leave alone basic, the top agenda was drinking water, it was fetched using some crooked containers but after all who cares for the container, all that was important was the content.
We slept that day in the bushes and waited for news from Maraya FM radio next morning on 20 Dec 2013. The news bulletin mentioned that the Town of Bor was under Riek Machar forces adding that, the government army were dislodged from the city and an attack at the military base in Bentiu. It wasn't a shock at all because we witnessed the attack, more rumors of hope and of despair flew in from different people, I knew that there was a plan by the government to retake the town. optimism is what I believe in and my favorite song as well. We would chat with Uncle Gai Deng Majak about our state of affairs, I learnt from him a lot , he would start from the beginning of Anyanya One, SPLM/A and everything that happened during the struggle until the present moment, he told me that, the life of a human being is like a moving waters, it goes up and down till death finds you on the way. He added that no condition is permanent hence I should not lose hope, his message was true and it made gain enthusiasm for the next day in the jungle, 21 Dec 2013 passed like any other beautiful day, it's only that there were rumors of the rebel group moments towards where we had sought refuge. It became a serious threat to our lives, therefore, we moved deeper inside tooch to rest assured we were safe, at that time we got hooked up in the news, we found information as our new weapon to fight anxiety and rejuvenate our hope since it was the only asset we possessed. 22 Dec 2013 went without any word of hope from the SPLA spoke person Philip Aguer Panyang, but within the news was the reports of forces loyal to Riek Machar being under full control of Bentiu. After the tidings we felt discouraged and hopeless.
On 23 Dec 2013 we heard of news that, the SPLA army is on the way towards Bortown, Aguer verified the same and added that, "it is definite that SPLA will take control of Bortown anytime". The jungle was becoming unbearable to everyone especially to toddlers who were delivered on the way. Lamentations were on everyone's lips, we would blame Riek first and later return to Kiir for the problems we faced, the thorns that pierced through our feet, we would hear sounds of all kind, hippopotamus could just be heard near our bushes at night plus hyena. We were far away from home therefore I became flexible enough to get acquainted to our new home. Pagook became enjoyable because of River Nile, I would swim, wash the only clothes i run away with and drink anytime I like.
As Christmas was approaching, it caught the civil population in Bortown bushes by surprise, besides who doesn't get prepared for Christmas?. Though you've got prepared or not, bush was the only place fit to celebrate and commemorate the birth of Christ Jesus. Riek planned it that way for the citizens of Bor. to us Riek Machar was the definition of Lucifer.
In the evening we listened to news, Aguer Panyang announced that they had retaken Bor from the rebel group. we confirmed the same from Mading Ngor who reports for the BBC, we were glad to hear the news. To me it was a victorious sign of hope to return home and prepare to usher in a new year with resolutions, first. To forget what had just happened or take it for sweet dream of a beautiful nightmare. On 26 Dec 2013, I waited to hear from those who went to witness everything. They reported that the place wasn't cleaned and that corpses were everywhere. We let that day pass and visited the next day, what was reported was true, there was also rampant looting which I saw going on in the market. That was 27 Dec 2013, we returned to the bushes and later resolved to return to the town 'cause life was horrible in the jungle. There is no place like home!. On 28 Dec 2013 I slept in my room comfortably and forced myself to believe that it would be my last time to go for exile again.
On the 29 Dec 2013, there was fear that the "white army" was on the way to retake Bor from the government forces. We were given too much pressure to leave the town for safety, and that was the time we hired a boat to Lake State in a place near the River Bank called Guolyar in Awerial county, We stayed there from 30 Dec 2013 to 10 Jan, 2014 with a wildest dream of returning home should government forces retake Bor from the "white Army". But all was in vain, we became hopeless and left. I'm now in Juba with my relatives. Life there wasn't good but we lived it anyway, in this scenario I learned that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger............to be continued!
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