The governor of South Sudan’s Aweil East state, Deng Deng Akuei, said the state of emergency declared in his state by President Kiir aimed at putting special measures in place against attempts by unauthorized people to smuggle arms into the area from neighbouring states.

“The order should not be misinterpreted. It needs to be received with humility and support it because it was done for good reasons. It was issued to help us deal with people who smuggle arms into the state from neighbouring communities to avoid being disarmed when it is carried out in their area,” said Governor Deng Deng in an interview with Radio Tamazuj on Saturday.

“The objective is to stop them from entering Aweil East state. This is the purpose, nothing else,” He added.

The top state official pointed out that he briefed the public about the importance of the order and explained its context.

“There have been questions about the inclusion of the area in the state of emergency order issued by the president recently. People have been asking and that’s why I decided to make a briefing. Now they have understood and their concerns have been addressed by the briefing,” he said.