South Sudanese rebel group SPLM-IO says that it is willing to investigate reports of killings of members of the Anyuak ethnic group in Akobo, an area under its control. A spokesman of the group has appealed to citizens to avoid tribal clashes and revenge killings.
This comes after members of the state parliament from the Anyuak tribe called for an investigation into an incident in which some Anyuak community members in Akobo were allegedly killed.
In a letter addressed to the Jonglei State government and copied to the IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism and to the UN Mission in South Sudan, six members of the state parliament said that members of four families including children were killed on 10 November in Akobo.
They said that as many as 25 people may have been killed, listing the names of those feared dead in the incident.
“We are urging the government and international community to investigate the massacre so that the perpetrators are brought to justice,” the MPs said in their letter. “It is unfortunate that after the peace is signed some people still kill with impunity,” said the lawmakers.
Sa’ad Omodo, an Anyuak chief, told Radio Tamazuj that the killings began when a group of people from the Nuer tribe tried to disarm a former Anyuak wildlife officer called Okello when he was hunting with his son.
The chief explained that the former officer refused to hand over his gun and opened fire at the group that tried to take his gun, killing one of them on the spot. He pointed out the problems late escalated, saying an unconfirmed number of people from the Anyuak tribe were killed in Akobo town, which is controlled by the SPLM/A-In Opposition.
“On 10 November, he went for hunting in the bush where he met Nuer men there. I think he was ordered to surrender his gun, but he refused, then he was shot,” he said. “He also managed to kill one of them, so the rest ran way and after they arrived in the town, they started killing Anyuak citizens who are in Akobo,” he added.
Timothy Taban Juch, the government-appointed commissioner of Akobo who is based in Bor, told Radio Tamazuj the incident happened after two Anyuak hunters who went to the nearby bush from Akobo town were suspected of killing a Nuer man.
This prompted the relatives of the deceased to carry out revenge attacks against members of the Anyuak community. They attacked members of the Anyuak community leading to an unconfirmed number of casualties.
“Exactly there is no accurate information that I have received but the incident happened… there are different information anyway… others are saying 6 and others are saying 7, some say 20,” he said.
Taban said that the killers are not rebel soldiers but stressed that the incident was between individuals of the Anyuak community and the Nuer community.
The state commissioner for peace James Apay who is an Anyuak by tribe also stressed that the incident was between civilians and other civilians. He said that the killers shot randomly at members of the Anyuak community including women and children.
Meanwhile, the Akobo Commissioner told Radio Tamazuj that he has got information that SPLM-IO commander Gatwic Dual in Pagak has ordered one of his commanders to find out what happened. But he said he did not have any information yet about whether the culprits were apprehended.
Radio Tamazuj was unable to reach SPLM-IO commanders in Akobo, but the deputy spokesman of the rebel group Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, who is a former Jonglei state minister and also hails from Akobo, denied knowledge of the incident while not ruling out that it could have happened.
“Up to now we don’t have any update about the incident, but we think that such inter-communal conflicts usually occur due to the proliferation of arms in the hands of the citizens,” he said.
Manawa said the SPLM-IO condemns this incident if it happened, saying a committee will be set up to investigate the perpetrators.
He appealed to the citizens to stay away from such behaviour. “If it happened, the SPLM-IO condemns it, but I think social peace between our brothers in the area, it may affect the peaceful coexistence between the Nuer and Ayuak, so people should avoid such behaviour,” he appealed.