Farmers in the contested Megenis border area lost three agricultural machines in an armed robbery earlier this week. The theft was reported to have occurred in the southern part of Sudan's White Nile State, which is near South Sudan’s Manyo County on the western bank of the Nile.

Elmilieh Khalid, the former chairman of the Federation of Farmers in south White Nile stated that an armed group composed of ten members on Saturday night held up farmers at gunpoint in southern White Nile and stole farming machinery, food commodities and fuel. He added that the agricultural machines that were hijacked belonged to the farmers Abdullah Bushara, Salem Al-Dinigila and Ezz-Eldin Mohammad Younis, and he revealed that Ezz-Eldin was shot at but did not sustain any injury. 

Khalid also explained that farming operations in the area have ceased after farmers decided to withdraw their machines from the agricultural schemes to El Megenis village due to the continuous deterioration of security in the region. He said that the farmers notified the security authorities of White Nile but the authorities did not take any action.

A number of farmers also warned of a failure in the current farming season due to the security incidents in the region, which is home to agricultural schemes which the state depends on. The farmers appealed to the authorities to intervene to help them.