Tension has gripped parts of northwestern Kenya’s Kalobeyei refugee camp, which is home to South Sudanese refugees, following the stabbing to death of a man by unidentified assailants on Sunday night.
The tension pits members of the Nuer community against their compatriots from the greater Equatoria.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Equatoria community representative John Ongoro said a 21-year-old student was returning from a theatre after watching a live soccer match when he was attacked, robbed of his phone, and fatally stabbed.
He said the Nuer community members started leaving their homes the following morning, for fear of retaliatory attack.
“The victim said before he died that his attackers were two tall men,” he said, adding that the Equatorian communities were not leaving the camp and there had been on confrontation yet.
Ongoro urged for restraint, as the investigations were underway.
Nuer representative Mattie Gatwick said they learnt of the killing by hearsay and that no member of their community could have been involved because the incident scene was far from any of their settlements.
He stated that there was never a history of feuds between the Nuer and the Equatorian communities and that it was not fair to accuse their youth of involvement.
“The incident happened when a boy who was returning from a cinema theatre was robbed and stabbed to death by two criminals. No one knew the identity of the attackers and there are a number of ethnic groups in this camp. People should not say that the Nuer killed their son. We urge dialogue with the Equatorians because we do not have any problem with them,” he said.