Authorities in Jur River County of Western Bahr el-Ghazal State on Tuesday announced the deployment of heavy security along the Kangi and Udici road to Aweil town of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State.
The authorities said the move was a response to the alleged growing tension between two communities over a piece of land.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, the Executive Director of Jur River County, Pasko Paquale Madut, said seven youth have been arrested and were undergoing investigations after being accused of triggering the situation.
The dispute is over the land in the area called Bakdwa situated in the north of the county.
Bakdwa is situated between Udici and Kangi which is also claimed by the Dinka, said Madut.
He said the county had formed a committee to investigate the matter and the dispute was resolved, but this year, it erupted again when some individuals invaded the home of someone called Deng Abango and cut down his mango trees, prompting him to take revenge on the third day, by cutting down a judiciary meeting tree.
“This case was reported to me and we informed the executive director of Kangi and Udici. We formed a joint security committee and they managed to apprehend more than seven youth who are now at the Kangi police station,” he said.
Madut said that people were moving along the roads freely despite the situation, since joint police had been deployed.
He urged the Jur River County community to refrain from land disputes.
My message to the civilians of Jur River County is that we have many cases related to land, but we have to distance ourselves from them because de do not want to get into trouble with our neighbors, he added.