By Taban Henry
Authorities in Eastern Equatoria State are warning cattle herders to withdraw their animals from main town to villages, as they are the cause of insecurity in the town.
This came after some cattle raiders attempted to raid cattle from Safari Link an area within Torit town of Eastern Equatoria state.
Speaking on telephone with No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, Jacob Atari Torit County Commissioner said the presence of cattle within the town fuels insecurity.
Mr. Atari said that in case of an attempt of cattle raid, the Youth (Monyomiji) in the area can follow in order to rescue the situation.
“I am urging if there are some soldiers who also buy and they want to stay with their cattle’s that should also be discourage this are things causing insecurity within the town because what happened yesterday has caused a lot of fear and panic to the citizens in the town, there are some people who don’t want to hear the sound of a gun and not everybody loved keeping the cattle’s currently we have almost five crawls here in the town,” he said.
The commissioner said that, the incident that happened on Thursday 5 kilometers away from Torit town when some cattle raiders came and raided cattle that belongs to the business people from Safari Link leaving one soldier dead after they tried to pursue the cattle raiders deep into the bush.
He said that military used heavy guns to shoot at cattle raiders which has caused fear and panics among locals in Torit town; noting that all the cattle’s that were raided were recovered.
“The soldiers followed the footmarks up to Imurok but we actually need to follow the foot marks which we will be doing it tomorrow though the cattle are recovered we shall confirm tomorrow from their footmarks,” he said.
However, the commissioner has urged South Sudanese to work hard and achieve their dreams rather than stealing, he said that, he wanted everybody to be in peace especially in Torit County.
Atari said, to stop cases of cattle raiding there is need for law enforcement agencies; he said they are lacking law enforcement agencies.
He further stated that they need to have enough military police so that incase of any criminal act, they have to intervene and run to the crime scene.