Political leaders from Maban County have withdrawn their members from the government of Northern Upper Nile State in protest against killings of their people in the state, Maban politicians said.

Northern Upper Nile’s Minister of Health Paulino Owana told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon that all representatives of Maban County in the state government, including the deputy governor and ministers have withdrawn from the state capital.

Pualino, a native of Maban, said they decided to pull out from the state government in protest against the killings of innocent civilians who hail from Maban area in Paloich town recently after a dispute over ownership at Kilo 10 area between the two counties of Maban and Melut.

“We are not in Renk now… how can we work there? We cannot work and talk with them, sincerely we cannot,” Paulino said.

The state minister announced that they don’t want to be part of the current state government led by Governor Deng Akuei Kak. “As politicians from Maban, it will be very difficult for us to return to work with Governor Deng Akuei. We are very angry, so we cannot stay together with those people,” he said.

Paulino urged the government to restore the disputed territory of Kilo 10 while demanding a separate state for the people of Maban.

Last week, South Sudan cabinet assigned the country’s Vice President James Wani Igga to lead a government delegation to Northern Upper Nile to solve the border dispute between Maban and Melut counties but the team has not yet travelled to the area.