JUBA – The governor of South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state has urged members of the Ma’di Community who have fled yesterday’s Nimule violence to Uganda to return, alleging that there are people who have bad intentions – apparently land grabbing – against their land.
Yesterday, deadly violence broke out in Nimule after a group of armed youth interrupted a Ma’di Community meeting and started taking pictures without the consent of the community members who were presence at the meeting.
When they were told to stop taking pictures, the armed men started to shoot in the air. After realizing those people in the meeting were not running away, they started shooting the people resulting in the killing of community Chief John Ebele.
By afternoon, five people in total were killed and others wounded including the Nimule police inspector Major David Kasmiro who was shot in the leg.
In a statement, Lobong said the violence begun when a group of Dinka Bor Community abducted two people before murdering them on Sunday. Lobong said Nimule violence begun when a gunman attacked a funeral for those killed on Sunday, resulted in the killing of the chief.
“Another tragedy took place on Sunday 10th July 2022, where disgruntled cattle keepers from Dinka Bor abducted two people, slaughtered them in cold blood, and went away with their goats in Mugali Payam,” Lobong said
“And on Monday 11th July 2022, when the relatives of the slain people were preparing to go and bury their dead, a gunman stormed the funeral home and shot dead the area chief,” he added, referring to the slain Chief Ebele.
The governor urged calm among the people of Nimule and Eastern Equatoria state in general in order to build a peaceful life, urging those who have fled to refugee camp in Uganda to return, alleging that some people have bad intentions for their land.
“I called on the people of Eastern Equatoria State to exercise maximum restraint and to continuously look forward to building a peaceful, united South Sudan free from conflicts and tribal animosity,” Governor Lobong said.
“We called on the people of Ma’di to remain in their areas and those in the refugee camps should come back and rebuild their lives in the country. There are people who have an ill intention for your land,” he added.
Governor Louis Lobong Lojore, he knows very well that, pastoralists people defending on their cattle but when the armed youths from Magwi county coordinated attacks on Dinka Bor cattle camps and they took thousands cows and 30 people left dead. This conflict will never end for sure until the people of Magwi county pay off cattles and if they don’t do it then, the entire Magwi county will not be living in peace.
Anyone who raises cattles know how it is important for their lives. The cattle keepers youths will come back from Jonglei State because some of the families have nothing to lived when their cows were raiding and taken by Magwi county’s armed youths. I think if they wanted to lived peaceful in the communities, they would not allowed their armed youths to raided Dinka cows in the first place. To solve that problem in Magwi county, they must pay off for thousands cows which they have raided from Dinka Bor people otherwise, the entire Magwi communities will have no peaceful. Any none cattles keepers must understand, you can’t lived in peace if you took cows from pastoralists people.