Residents in Ikotos County of Eastern Equatoria State have expressed concerns over heavy deployment of troops in the area to curb insecurity.
Earlier this week, the government of Eastern Equatoria state sent a number of soldiers who went and stationed at the county’s headquarters. The move came after unidentified armed men ambushed and killed a boda-boda rider along the Losite -Tseretenya road on 16 July.
A resident of Ikotos who only identified himself a Lofuho told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday the security situation in Ikotos was not stable as the locals were worried over the presence of military forces in the area.
Lofuho accused the soldiers of harassing civilians. “Actually, Ikotos these days is not that good because soldiers are in Ikotos. These people came here but nobody knows their mission. All the soldiers went to the county headquarters and you know soldiers with their behaviors, they went to harass people in the market, they also broke into the office of the commissioner and people are currently living in fear,” he said.
Kamilo, another local resident, said he and other citizens were scared after seeing a large number of military forces in the area.
“Citizens are scared by the way because civilians don’t stay with soldiers. They (civilians) saw big guns and as civilians we have that internal torture because of the situation,” he said.
For his part, Ikotos County Commissioner Joseph Loholong Jennisio confirmed the deployment of military forces to the area. He, however, said he was not present in the area.
“I am just here in Torit. All these incidences happened when the soldiers arrived there, so I did not get enough information on the ground,” he said.