A traditional court in Unity States Mayom County on Thursday convicted and sentenced a cattle thief to six months in prison.

The court ruled that any cattle raider found guilty in the area would be sentenced to a six-month jail term without an option of appeal.

The court found that the convict was behind last week’s theft of 40 head of cattle in the northern part of Mayom County. The recovered cattle were handed to their owners on the day the man was sent to prison.

“40 cows were handed over to the owner because we want our area to be peaceful among the seven counties in Unity State,” a state security official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

The raider was arrested four days ago following investigations by security personnel over the recent spate of cattle raids on Messeriya cattle camps in the northern parts of the county that border Sudan.

Previously, one suspect was arraigned before a Mayom traditional court and charged with similar offenses and is now serving his jail term at Mayom Town Prison.

Mayom County Commissioner Luka Chierey told Radio Tamazuj Thursday that the suspected rustler was indeed apprehended and convicted. He described the cattle thieves as criminals, saying any suspected cattle raider would face a similar fate.

According to the commissioner, the cattle raiders have formed a cattle exchange cartel between Unity and Warrap states.

“The criminal who was arrested and sentenced is from a Wangkay Payam in Mayom and is believed to have been part of the cattle raiders from rustling cattle near the border of Sudan and Unity State,” he stated. “The court in Mayom County sentenced him to serve six months in jail.”

Meanwhile, Doctor Riek Koang, a member of a local civil society group, confirmed the handing over of the 40 cows to the Messeriya cattle keepers. He said the jail term serves as a moral lesson to other cattle raiders in the area and lauded the area county commissioner for spearheading the crackdown.

As civil society groups, we wish the same thing could be replicated across the state,” Dr. Koang said.

The Arab Messeriya pastoralists from Sudan who come to graze their cattle in South Sudan and local herders in Unity State have experienced regular cattle raids in the recent past, resulting in insecurity and revenge killings among local communities.

Cattle raiding has been a driver of intercommunal violence in many counties and states across South Sudan.