The commissioner of Tombura County in South Sudan's Western Equatoria State, Abdulla Juma Rizigalla, revealed that his government has set up committees comprising of religious leaders, local leaders and organizations working in the area to investigate the incidents of last year in Ibo payam.

Juma said in statement to Radio Tamazuj that the creation of these committees aims at encouraging peace and reconciliation between the local community and SPLA in the area and to hold those involved in incidents of last year accountable.

“We have formed a committee to investigate the incident of last year. We have also formed a committee to sit down with the citizens and another committee to sit with the army for the reconciliation process,” Juma said.

He added that the citizens of Ibo payam are still hiding in the bushes and neighboring villages while the SPLA forces are remaining in the area. The commissioner also called on humanitarian organizations to intervene to rescue the dire situation which the citizens are going through.