Paulino Matip Nhial

Paulino Matip Nhial (1942 – 22 August 2012 ), or Matiep Nhial, was a military leader and politician in South Sudan.

Early career Paulino belonged to the Bul section of the Nuer people.

Between 1998 and 2003 Paulino fought on the government side, forcibly removing civilians from the Block 5A oil concession area, and assisting in clearances from other oil blocks. Riek himself resigned from the government and SSDF in 2000, forming a separate militia named the Sudan People's Democratic Forces, and in 2002 agree to merge this force with the SPLA. Although opposed to the SPLA and receiving help from the government, the SSDF party as opposed to the militia was suspicious of the north and in favor of some measure of independence. In the spring of 2004, SSDF militias in the Shilluk Kingdom burned villages and displaced thousands of people on government orders. The SSDF leaders including Paulino, Gordon Kuang, and Benson Kuany made their disgust with this action clear. He was appointed deputy Commander in Chief of the SPLA. More than 50,000 of Paulino's forces were integrated into the SPLA and other organized forces, but he retained some former SSDF soldiers as a personal bodyguard.

In May 2007 Paulino had to dispel rumors that he had died after seeking medical treatment in South Africa. In August 2008 he visited the United States for medical treatment. In May 2009 Paulino was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant general while Major General James Hoth Mai was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed the SPLA's chief of staff. In October 2009 it was reported that around 300 of Matip's guards were being airlifted to Juba by the United Nations. A week before there had been a clash between soldiers guarding Matip's residence in Bentiu and another SPLA unit in which one report said ten people died, mainly soldiers. According to Riek Machar, now Deputy President of South Sudan, Paulino Matip's house was attacked by heavily armed soldiers supported by tanks. In a public letter, Matip accused the SPLA, its Commander-in-Chief, Salva Kiir Mayardit and the state governor Taban Deng Gai of being involved in plotting the attack.