Rizik Zechariah Hassan, governor of Lol State has downplayed fears that Raja town, the administrative headquarters of the new state, remains under security threat from armed opposition.
Governor Rizik, who is currently visiting Juba on an official visit, said on Thursday that calm had returned to the town and that humanitarian organizations which relocated their staff members when the town was briefly overrun by armed men in Juba have returned as a result of the improvement of security situation in the area.
“There is no problem at the moment. The security situation has improved. Schools have reopened and people who fled their homes have returned and people have resumed their normal. Markets in and outside Raja town are functioning normally,” said Governor Rizik when reached on Thursday.
He said he was in Juba for an official visit which he is using as an opportunity to meet and hold meetings with relevant institutions and authorities to put them in clear picture of the general security situation.
Armed men in June targeted houses of government officials, forcing them and civilians to leave the area.
The brief takeover of the town by armed men before eventually withdrawing from it forced several senior government officials, including Governor Rizik Zechariah Hassan, to flee the town for their safety. However, several officers were killed including some of the governor’s bodyguards.