Anthony Fada Taban, Ngo Baggari County Commissioner in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal State on Tuesday confirmed his defection to the SPLA-IO faction in the area.
Taban confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that he joined the armed opposition faction led by Riek Machar. “I want to confirm that I have joined the armed opposition in Western Bahr el Ghaza”.
The breakaway government official revealed that he didn’t want attacks carried out by the SPLA forces on civilians and problems caused by herders who come from neighbouring states.
He accused the current government of targeting local residents and torching several villages, prompting the civilians to flee from Ngo Baggari County.
“The reason of my defection to the opposition is because of the continuing attacks by the militias of SPLA on the civilians, and the looting and torching of their houses and the destruction of farms by the pastoralists” said Taban.
Last week, Andrea Mayar Acho, appointed governor of the proposed Wau State, confirmed the withdrawal of the SPLA force and police units from Ngo Baggari County which the SPLA-IO fighters claim to have already captured.
For his part, an SPLA-IO commander in the area announced that they captured Ngo Baggari County and detained the County Commissioner Anthony Fada together with his bodyguards