Police authorities in Jonglei State have since last Saturday detained eight chiefs in the state capital, Bor town.
The detained chiefs are among a section of community leaders from the Dukpadiet area in Jonglei’s Duk County who rejected the appointment of the new county commissioner John Chatim in a July 30 petition addressed to the state deputy governor and state party leader Antipas Nyok Kucha.
A few weeks ago, Duk County Commissioner John Chatim suspended the eight chiefs including the county’s acting paramount chief Deng Mabur for allegedly interfering in government work. But Chief Deng denied the claim saying the suspension was unlawful.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, Major Majak Daniel Tuor, the state police spokesperson, said they are holding the traditional leaders for investigations, and that they will be arraigned before a court of law soon.
“The traditional chiefs were having some grievances with their county commissioner. So this is what resulted in their subsequent arrest. As the police, we got involved to rescue the situation from getting worse by detaining them lawfully and forward the case to the court of law,” Majak said.
“The prolonged detention is not our making, the problem is that the court premises have been flooded by heavy rains since Sunday. We investigated them for their problem with the commissioner, they have said their part," he added.
For his part, Bol Deng Bol, an activist in Bor, called for the release of the traditional leaders, saying the detention is disturbing.
“Chiefs on the ground with their people, there is no way you can respond to them in such a harsh manner. Unfortunately, they are still detaining them without being taken to court. This is a clear violation of the law," he said.