At least 7 people were confirmed dead and over 700 head of cattle were recovered during a cattle raid in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria State over the weekend.
Last Friday, cattle rustlers attacked a kraal in the Jelle area of Nimule Payam and killed 4 cattle herders. The cattle owners then regrouped, followed the raiders, and clash with them in the Achwa and Owinykibul areas leading to the death of 3 more people from both sides before the cattle were recovered.
Abraham Makur, the secretary-general of the cattle keepers, in Nimule, told Radio Tamazuj that the Monyiemiji were responsible for orchestrating continuous insecurity for cattle pastoralists in the greater Magwi area.
The Monyiemiji are the ruling generation (youth who defend the community) of the Otuho ethnic group who inhabit the counties of Torit, Ikotos, and Lafon in Eastern Equatoria State.
“That incident happened 3 days ago. It was Monyiemiji who went and raided in Nimule, Achwa, and Jelle. After killing 4 people, they went with the raided cattle so the youth prepared and ran after their cattle,” Makur said. “They pursued the attackers until they returned their cattle back. We confirmed that from the east side of Owinykibul, the attackers lost two people.”
He blamed politicians for causing disunity among the people and said South Sudanese should live in harmony and stop the culture of raiding or looting each other’s property.
Meanwhile, the youth leader for the Dinka community in the Madi corridor, Joseph Anyuat, confirmed the recovery of cattle from the rustlers.
“We heard that these people (rustlers) came from the side of Torit through Magwi up to Opari and Nimule. They killed 4 people and they took the cattle up to Owinykibul but the herders ran after, intercepted them, and returned the stolen cattle,” Anyuat said. “The cattle have now arrived in the kraals. I heard there was no additional death on our side so the cattle have been returned with no problem.”
Torit County Commissioner Jacob Attari Albano denied that the raiders were from his area and advised the owners of the kraals that were attacked to factually establish who attacked them.
“First of all, I want to say this issue is not true. If you look at Nimule, Magwi is in the middle of it and Torit. I do not think the Monyiemiji are able to move up to that area to raid cattle,” he said. “So, that is just an allegation. I have never got any report that Monyiemiji moved to that area. If they say the raiders were from Torit County, what is the evidence?”
The chief inspector of police in Magwi County, Lt. Godfrey Bongomin, acknowledged the raids but said he had no details of the matter.
“We heard about the incident but do not have details. We heard that this thing happened on the side of Nimule so we sent our forces to bring correct details,” he said.
The town clerk of Nimule Town Council, Max Yousif Khalafala, confirmed the cattle raid but said the cattle herders did not report the case to the government prompting fears among the local community. He however said calm had returned to the area.