The governor of Boma State, Gen. David Yau Yau, said he heard that President Kiir had ordered the new chief to bring the SSDM-Cobra forces to Juba, but he refused to comment on the matter.

“It is not my responsibility. It was an order given to the new chief of defense forces. I am busy with my own responsibilities,” Yau Yau told Radio Tamazuj.

He pointed out that the transportation of the former SSDM/A ‘Cobra Faction’ from Boma to Juba has not yet started.

In January 2014, David Yau Yau signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, mediated by religious leaders led by Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Torit. His group then entered into political negotiations which resolved the conflict.

Gen. Yau Yau waged an insurgency in the Pibor area of greater Jonglei from mid-2012 through 2013. Yau Yau recruited his troops from the Murle tribe to which he belongs. 

In January 2016, the leader of the SSDM Cobra Faction officially joined the SPLM in Juba, in another sign of continuing efforts to integrate the former rebel group into the country's government and army.