A local government official in Twic County of Warrap State said 15 head of cattle were rustled from Ajak Kuauch Payam by armed youth from the neighboring Mayom County in Unity State on Monday but that by Wednesday 9 cows had been recovered.
The Twic County executive director who is momentarily acting as the county commissioner, Joseph Taban, the 9 cows were recovered on Wednesday due to collaboration between officials from Twic County of Warrap State and Mayom County of Unity State.
“The security situation is normal with our neighbors, that is Abyei, Aweil, Gogrial West, and Gogrial East counties,” Taban said. “But we had an incident on Monday where armed youth from Mayom raided 15 cows at Ajak kuach Payam and we communicated with Mayom authorities and this yielded 9 cows which were recovered and returned to their owners.”
He added: “Though we have clashed, we have peace between Twic and Mayom counties. Now, we are looking for the remaining cows, and thank God nobody was killed or injured.”
Taban said the only threats they face are presented by Sudanese Messirya nomads in the northern part of Twic County and floods that have destroyed crops and homesteads. He forecasts that harvests will be poor translating into hunger next year.
For his part, Mayom County Commissioner James Chuol Gatluak confirmed the incident and they were working to bring the culprits to book.
“Yes, the cows were returned, about nine of them and I ordered all forces to hunt for those who did the raiding,” Commissioner Chuol said. “I also talked to the chiefs in Mayom to respect peace because our relations are good. Even now, Nuer cattle are grazing in areas of Twic County.”