An official and locals in South Sudan’s Morobo County in Central Equatoria State people are fleeing villages in the area following atrocities by elements of the SPLA-IO there.
On Wednesday, Morobo County Commissioner Joseph Mawa accused the SPLA-IO forces based in the North-Eastern part of the county of looting, harassing, and raping civilians causing panic and displacement in Kendila, Yayimba, Yondu, and Koroji villages.
“The situation in Morobo County is generally normal but there was recent rampant displacement, looting of goats, cows, harvested food produce, and household properties including the raping of two women,” Commissioner Mawa said on Wednesday. “I contacted the commander of the SPLA-IO in Payume and he told me that there was no food supplied to the forces since January and that it led to the civilian displacement in the area.”
However, Arike Timothy, the county Relief and Rehabilitation Commission coordinator, told Radio Tamazuj Saturday that the situation in Wayimba, Yondu, parts of Kendila, and Nyori remains tense as civilians have continued to flee into Morobo town for safety since Tuesday.
“We have 1,210 people displaced from the areas like Wayimba, Nyori, Kurkorongo, and Yondu. They are now in the county headquarters, some three churches and old buildings and they are mostly women and children lacking food, tarpaulins, blankets, and other items,” he said.
Eli Dada, a displaced person from Yondu, said the SPLA-IO soldiers went on a rampage brutalizing and raping civilians in his village.
“Once they find you on the road, your clothes are removed and you are left to move naked while women and girls are raped,” he described. “When they come to an area, they cock their guns and intimidate us as if we are not South Sudanese and owners of this land and all our belongings, including goats and food items, have been looted and we been forced to leave the area with only the clothes on our bodies.”
Jeyina Awate, another displaced person from Wayimba village who recently returned from a refugee camp, said she lost all her belongings and farm produce to the marauding SPLA-IO forces.
“Is the signed peace agreement meant for looting and raping civilians? Is this peace meant for people to return to the country or are we called to be killed?” she asked. “We have now lost all our properties to the SPLA-IO and with these bad actions, our people in the camps will not return to Morobo. Why are the SPLA-IO forces subjecting us to fresh suffering in Morobo County?”
Meanwhile, December David Joseph who fled from Yondu village, said he was harassed and had his property looted by the SPLA-IO soldiers.
“They came and scattered all my belongings and tore my academic transcripts into pieces and threatened to kill us if we spoke,” he narrated. “They took all our maize grain and cassava flour and pulled off my sick father out of his room and removed his clothes. I lost everything, came here without anything, and am really suffering.”
On Saturday, the executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, condemned the attacks by the SPLA-IO soldiers and termed it a violation of the peace agreement and human rights.
“This is a total violation of the revitalized peace agreement. I would like to urge the leadership in the ministry of defense, the unified command structure, and other security mechanisms to ensure that those soldiers who committed these crimes are investigated and held accountable,” Yakani said.