An eight-year-old child was abducted and a 35-year-old man killed by unknown criminals in Imehejek administrative area of South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State over the weekend.
Authorities said the child and the neighbor were in a garden scaring birds away when suspected Murle youth attacked them, murdering the man, and taking away his gun and the child.
The attack angered the local youth who pursued the culprits, who they said entered the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Last year, two children were also abducted by suspected Murle youth while scaring away birds in Imehejek administrative area
Imehejek Administrator Oromo Mathew told Radio Tamazuj that the three suspected criminals struck at around 8pm.
He said the deceased was cutting poles for making the shelter for scaring away the birds when the suspects struck.
Eastern Equatoria State Minister for Information and Communication Elia John Ahaji confirmed the incident, saying the Murle youth keep violating a peace agreement.
He said several attempts at sending forces to follow the footmarks of the suspected Murle youth had not resulted in any arrests by the GPAA authorities.
The Minister said the government efforts to counter the attacks were hampered by difficulty of movement during the rainy season. GPAA Information and Communication Minister Oleyo Akuar Nyalus said they had not received any report of any abduction in Imehejehek. He, however, promised that they would launch an investigation and inform the Government of Eastern Equatoria in case of any arrest and recovery of the abducted child.