Martin MawutJuly 5, 2025
Photos shared in a Facebook post by South Sudan Exposed claiming to show the arrest of members belonging to some groups of gangsters in Sherikat by law enforcement agencies on 27 June, 2025, is false.
South Sudan Exposed, a page that boasts of over 900,000 followers and 14,000 likes, describes itself as a broadcasting and media production company. “Law Enforcement Arrests ODA and West Coast Gangs in Sherikat, Seizing Tools of Witchcraft,” the Facebook post reads in part. The pictures were shared in the wake of a crackdown on gang members who reportedly raped a 19-year-old girl in the Sherikat area of Juba on 19 June 2025.
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Other sources that have shared the same false information are Juba Eye, Juba Media, Juba Echo TV, and Access Radio — Yei (archived link)
Debunking the Claim:
A Google reverse image search results (archived link) showed that the post was published on 3 January 2023 by Africa Press (archived link) and South Sudan Uncensored on Facebook.
The screenshot image above shows a group of 44 gang members who were arrested 3 January 2023, by police in Juba. They were members of different gangster groups called Wrong Gang, Lock World, Rich Gang, and Star Boys who lived in Lologo and Hai Kosti areas of Juba; some lived in. These two groups were involved in a serious fight, which led to the killing of two teenage members. One was killed in a fight that happened in Kosti, and another one was killed in Lologo, as the two groups used to have conflict, according to the statement made by the police spokesperson, Major General Daniel Justin.
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In addition, an internet search about the recent rape incident in Sherikat returns many results, some of which include a report that the South Sudan Police Service department of CID confirms they arrested four of the seven (7) members of the gangsters who raped the girl. Other sources that have talked about the arrest of the gangsters can be found here, here, here, and here.
Verdict:
Photos shared in a Facebook post published on 27 June 2025 by South Sudan Exposed, claiming to show the arrest of gang members in Sherikat, are false. The images in the post are old and were first posted by the South Sudan Police Service on a Facebook page on 3 January 2023, in which the police arrested forty-four (44) members of four (4) different gang groups.
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