The local authorities of Gogrial East and Twic counties of the Warrap State on Monday said that armed elements believed to have come from Twic County last Friday killed three unarmed youth in Gogrial East County.
According to Gogrial East County Commissioner William Duchak, the three deceased men were friends who were visiting their relative in the Ayien area.
“What happened was that three men went from different counties of Warrap State to the Ayien area to visit and were in the house of their relative within Gogrial East County. Armed youth believed to be from Twic cattle defenders (TitWeng) caught them and killed two of the men, one from Konggor section in Tonj North County and the other from my Gogrial East County from the Jur-Man Section of Anger area,” he explained. “The following day (Saturday), the Twic armed youth killed the third man who was from Awan Chan Nyal Section in Akon Payam, Gogrial West County. This act annoyed the relatives of the deceased, and there was almost a revenge attack on Saturday in the Twic area of Apirin.”
“The security is in the hands of common citizens, and one person ran to my residence and gave us information that armed men wanted to stage a revenge attack, and we immediately intervened with the SSPDF brigade commander and convinced them to allow the government to resolve the matter,” the commissioner added.
He said the men who were worked up did not want to listen to the authorities but dispersed after security forces fired bullets in the air.
According to Duchak, the security situation is now calm after the quick arrest of three people suspected to be linked to the incident.
“The two counties of Gogrial East and Twic, which have no history of violence since the independence of South Sudan, promptly decided to arrest the leader of the Twic cattle defenders, the local chief where youth reside, and the administrator of the Ayien area where the incident occurred and investigations are ongoing,” he explained.
Meanwhile, John Mabior, acting commissioner of Twic County, confirmed the incident and said he is still collecting more information from local authorities.
“The security situation is fine and but you cannot assure people of stability because anything can happen in a couple of minutes from now,” he said. “The incident happened while I was away from the county, and I am still waiting for a comprehensive report from my executive director because I do not want the public to get unrealistic information. I tried to call my counterpart, the commissioner of Gogrial East County, but his phone was busy.”