A farmer from Maban community was shot dead and a Blue Nile refugee was killed when clashes erupted between the displaced and host communities at Gendrasa camp in Maban County, Upper Nile state Friday evening.
Upper Nile Police Commissioner Simon Chonga Ngongo told Radio Tamazuj on Sunday that the incident took place when a group of four refugees killed a local farmer, prompting the family of the victim to kill a refugee in retaliation.
“The Blue Nile refugees went onto a farm to steal maize, but when the owner came to ask them, one of them shot him dead on the spot,” Ngongo explained.
He said the clashes continued until Saturday morning, when six people from the two sides were wounded. They were taken to Bunj Hospital for treatment.
Ngongo said the situation returned to normal after the authorities intervened.
In March 2014, people from Maban County gave Blue Nile refugees in several areas an ultimatum to leave within 24 hours or else they’d resort to other means. The county commissioner intervened to extend the ultimatum to two months.
Upper Nile’s Maban County accommodates about 120,000 refugees from Sudan’s Blue Nile State since war erupted there in September 2011 between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North.