At least 49 heads of cattle were stolen from Ihirang, Idali and Lodo villages of the Imehejek administrative area of South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State, authorities have said.

Mathew Oromo, the Chief Administrator of the Imehejek administrative area, told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that this happened on Tuesday when unknown groups of raiders stormed the three villages at different intervals within the day.

According to Oromo, youths in the area followed the footmarks of some raided cattle, which they claimed led them to Oronyo village. This, therefore, prompted Imehejek authorities to accuse Oronyo youth of culpability in the raid.

On Monday, a man went missing, and 700 goats were raided in Arihilo village of Imehejek administrative. Authorities accused Toposa youths of Riwoto of being behind the attack.

On Tuesday, Oromo said they were in communication with Torit County authorities to ensure the stolen livestock are returned and the culprits are apprehended.

“Here in Ihirang, eight heads of cattle were raided, and in Lodo, seventeen heads of cattle have been raided while in Idali, seven heads of cattle were raided and on Monday, the youth of Loronyo again raided seventeen herds of cattle and when the chief called them at the traditional dance, they refused to return the cattle,” Oromo said.

He added,” On Tuesday morning, I heard that the criminals who raided these cattle took the cattle that side of Ohiri, and I have communicated with the commissioner of Torit County that he has communicated with youth for these criminals to be apprehended; these are incidents that happened in Imejehek,” Oromo narrated.

Kanuto Atari Inyasio, Chief of Oronyo, admitted that youth from his area raided the cattle from Imehejek but were currently hiding in the bush with the stolen cattle.

He said fellow youths have been tasked to identify and apprehend the perpetrators to face justice, urging them to desist from criminal activities of raiding cattle and killing people.

“It is true that these criminals are currently running with these cattle in the bush, and the youths are following to identify them. Once arrested, they will be taken to justice, and the youth are now following them and will bring them to me. I’m urging them to desist from such acts; criminality is unacceptable; cattle raiding is unacceptable because it leads to death; if the cattle owner finds you with his cattle, he will shoot and kill you,” he said.

For her part, Flora Sebit Jada, a civil society activist in Eastern Equatoria State, condemned the raid and called on the national government to deploy forces to the area to apprehend the culprits and ensure raided cattle are returned to their rightful owners.

She urged youth to work hard for their own wealth and riches instead of stealing cattle.

“Actually, I condemned the action, especially in regard to this issue of cattle raiding. This is a very dangerous exercise that youths are using for their own benefit, either to become rich or for whatever reason best known to them. There are different ways how we can get wealth, but it is not good to steal. We need a quick response from the government. Let them intervene to rescue the situation,” she said.