The commissioner of Uror County in Jonglei State has said they are on maximum alert and ready to deter pending attacks by armed Murle youth from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Commissioner Machot Gatluak Kenyjak told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that they have credible reports that armed youth from Pibor had been mobilizing and are now on their way to attack various locations in Jonglei State, including Uror County. As a result, he said, armed local youth have been asked to be on maximum alert and act in self-defense.
“We have reliable information on Murle youth having mobilized to attack areas of Uror, Duk, Akobo West, and Twic East. And indeed the presence of many armed people at the outskirts of our bushes was spotted by some of our local youth who went hunting a few days ago,” he said. “Murle youth already left their areas three days so we instructed our youth to be on alert by carrying out patrols and be ready to repel any attack.”
The local official urged the GPAA authorities to intervene and stop the pending attack.
“We are for peace. A few days ago, a delegation from GPAA was in Akobo for a peace conference and we plan to travel there on a peace mission,” he said. “So, these repeated attacks by Murle may derail peace efforts and I urged GPAA authorities to stop their youth.”
For her part, Jonglei State Information Minister Elizabeth Nyadak John Jok said they are aware that Pibor youth have been mobilizing to attack counties in Jonglei State. She urged the local youth to prepare to protect themselves and their properties.
“These rumors have been there and this time our people should not be sleeping to avoid a repeat of what happened last December in Duk,” she stressed. “What I have to tell Duk, Uror, and Nyirol is that let them stay awake because these criminals from Pibor are not even in agreement with their government. They don’t listen to their government so let our people stay awake.”
Meanwhile, Simon Logocho Gayin, the GPAA local government minister, acknowledged that some of the youth from GPAA were mobilizing to attack part of Jonglei. He condemned their actions, insisted they were provocative, and said efforts were underway to de-escalate the tensions.
“We have been aware for the last four days that a small group was mobilizing in Nanaam to attack areas in Jonglei State. As a government, we condemn such acts and we are planning to travel there to tell our youth that what they are doing is not good because we are for peace,” he said. “Since Nanaam is inaccessible, we dispatched our chiefs and instructed the commissioners to stop the mobilization before the government reaches there.”
“However, we are asking our people in Jonglei State to be on alert,” Minister Logocho cautioned.