At least two people were killed on Thursday in Obira Boma, Ikotos County of Eastern Equatoria State during a cattle raid by suspected youths from Boya, the authorities said.
Tito Abbas Lomoro Ohide, the Executive Director of Chahari Payam said the two men were killed and an estimated number of 3,000 cattle raided from Obira.
“Around 10:00 am on Thursday some raiders came from that side of Kimotong and raided three kraals of cattle from Obira and killed two people. The youths are still following them and we don’t know what is going to happen after that. I came to attend the chiefs conference and the Executive Directors conference and I received a call from the boma chief this morning that the animals were just raided by Boya,” he said.
Tito Abbas appealed to the state authorities to ensure the return of the raided cattle.
“I want to tell the youths that we have just signed some resolutions recently that these criminal acts should end. We still follow the document that has been signed by the joint border peace committee that any animals raided during this time must be returned, the government should follow and return them to their rightful owners,” he said. “This has been documented, now I am just appealing to the higher authorities to implement what we have done and if they can dialogue with the two communities so that the cattle can be returned.”
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, the Minister of Local Government in Eastern Equatoria State Peter Lokeng said proper investigations must be conducted into the incident as the two communities have been living in peace with each other.
“We contacted some leaders from that side of Boya and we asked them what happened but they said they are doing revenge for their boy who went to Obira and disappeared in Obira. But I asked them what is going to happen if the issue is not resolved, but the leaders from Boya are saying they are ready to resolve the matter with Obira through government support,” Lokeng said.
In December last year, the two communities of Obira and Boya resolved to live in peace after years of conflict between them.