The local authorities in Tonj South County in Warrap state on Monday said that armed civilians in the county have voluntarily surrendered 277 weapons in the last two months since a peaceful disarmament exercise commenced.
Governor Aleu Ayieny launched the peaceful disarmament exercise in the greater Tonj area on 8 May in Thiet Town of Tonj South County with the aim of ending nearly four years of bloody communal conflicts.
Natale Nhial, the Tonj South County acting commissioner, said his administration the peaceful disarmament campaign in January by conducting awareness meetings with chiefs and leaders of the armed youth.
“We started the disarmament process in Tonj South County in January and we used to call community meetings and tell them to hand over the arms to the government since May this year, we have collected 265 Small arms (AK-47s) and 12 PKM (machine guns). They are now present in the government’s store,” he said.
Acting Commissioner Nhial said the firearms were collected from the four payams of Manyang Ngok, Thiet, Jak, and Wath-Alel.
“It is an ongoing process and our relationship with SSPDF during the disarmament exercise is good because chiefs and Payam administrators are the ones leading the process and then the guns are reported to the army,” he added.
Meanwhile, Toby Mawien Yuot, who represents Tonj South County constituency No. 29 in the state parliament, said the disarmament campaign was going on smoothly and the youth are not resisting it.
“In the last one month and some days, Tonj South County participated in the peaceful disarmament of the illegal guns and up to now 277 were collected and this is in line with the national disarmament policy and also in line with the Greater Tonj conference resolutions,” he said.
According to Mawien, the first phase of the disarmament campaign has had no hindrances as the armed youth, local authorities, and the army have collaborated well but the second phase will be done by the army if sections of the youth who carry illegal arms fail to comply.