A/HRC/45/CRP.3 is delivered there on a monthly basis. One reason for this difference is that Akobo East borders the Sobat River which provides modest access to fishing.198 105. The Commission heard from numerous residents throughout Akobo that for years Government forces had been arbitrarily denying residents access to vital foodstuffs.199 In September 2016, for example, a trader attempted to take commodities from Juba to Akobo by air, including 20 bags of sugar, 10 bags of rice, 10 bags of salt, and 15 cartons of oil.200 Five National Security Service (NSS) officers armed with AK-47s and pistols stopped him at Juba International Airport,201 and told him that he was “prohibited from transporting goods to a rebel-controlled territory”. They further threatened to kill him if he did not leave his supplies with them.202 106. Similarly, in July 2019, a man from Akobo attempted to bring medicine from Juba to Akobo to sell in the local market when NSS officers confiscated the medicine at Juba International Airport.203 Also in 2019, another trader from Akobo attempted to bring goods including sugar, salt, oil, millet, and onions from Juba to Akobo. He was stopped by Government soldiers in Potap, located between Bor and Yuai, and accused by the soldiers of being “the enemy”. The soldiers looted all of goods.204 In September 2019, another trader travelled to Juba to bring goods to Akobo. After he converted his money from South Sudanese Pounds to United States Dollars, NSS officers stole $1,800 USD from him,205 making it impossible for him to return to Akobo with any food items. 107. Aside from blocking traders and businesspersons from transporting vital foodstuffs and medicine into Akobo, Government forces have also systematically restricted humanitarian actors from bringing food into Akobo via road. In April 2017, for example, Government forces stopped a convoy that was transporting food to Akobo and looted the food on-board.206 The Commission received credible information that members of the SSPDF Division 8 were responsible for blocking the roads leading into Akobo, and preventing humanitarian vehicles from Juba passing through Bor to deliver food to Akobo.207 In April 2018, a United Nations agency convoy was bringing food to Akobo when SPLA Division 8 soldiers stopped it at the Thardiok checkpoint in Yuai County. The soldiers ordered the humanitarians to offload some of the food and forced the convoy to turn around.208 Between February and March 2018, as the convoy of a nongovernmental organisation was attempting to transport beans, oil, and sorghum from Juba to Akobo, Government soldiers refused to let the convoy proceed to Akobo once it had passed Bor.209 108. Traders who are able to obtain commodities do so by travelling long distances by road to get food into Akobo, and in turn have been forced to charge residents exorbitant prices to recover their expenses.210 For example, civilians described how, prior to the conflict, sugar in Akobo used to cost 6,000 to 7,000 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP), and currently costs 15,000 SSP. A tin of powdered milk used to cost 150 SSP, and now costs ERN 103399 – 103406, para. 6. See, e.g., ERN 103234 – 103239, para. 9; ERN 103371 – 103376, para. 5; ERN 103413 – 103419, para. 13; ERN 103566 – 103570, para. 8; ERN 103701 – 103714, para. 28. 200 ERN 103560 – 103565, para. 6. 201 ERN 103560 – 103565, para. 7. 202 ERN 103560 – 103565, para. 8. 203 ERN 103371 – 103376, para. 7. 204 ERN 103371 – 103376, para. 8. 205 ERN 103701 – 103714, para. 29. 206 ERN 103371 – 103376, para. 10. 207 ERN 103445 – 103448, para. 18. 208 ERN 103701 – 103714, para. 28. 209 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 10. 210 ERN 103445 – 103448, para. 18. 198 199 27