By Taban Henry
Police authorities in Nimule have reported the killing of a 52-year-old man (Okumu Musa) who was shot on Monday night at his home in Nimule town.
The Police Inspector in Nimule, Major David Kasmiro confirmed to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that the man was gunned down, and police were deployed at the scene to investigate the matter.
The Police official said that Okumu was bathing at his home in Rey residential area and the unknown assassin shot three bullets at his back.
“On Monday evening at around 7 PM in Rei residential area we hear a gun shot and the information came to us the shooting is from the cattle herders because their almost two crawls of cattle in that area. This morning reports came to us that the sound of the shooting yesterday a person has been shot,” he said.
The police inspector said the incident happened near two cattle camps which is about 100 meters.
He said, according to the information gathered from the neighbour someone came from the cattle camp with a gun, but could not identify him because it was dark.
The eye witness said, the gunman entered his (Okumu’s) room and after 30 minutes, he heard a gunshot. However, the neighbor said he did not know that somebody was killed, but only realized in the morning that Okumu is dead.
“For the citizens in Nimule to have peace of mind the cattle have to be evacuated from these areas because of the presence of the cattle in this area more crimes are expected to take place, let the government help in evacuating the cattle herders,” he said.
The Police Inspector in Nimule confirmed that the cattle are moving but the number is higher, he however added that cattle herders according to him there is something behind them, if the elders do not reach or say something to the cattle herders they would have moved peacefully.
He further revealed that according to the consultation held with the host community they said that they only wanted the cattle herders to evacuate their area because the cattle are destroying their crops but for those who do not have cattle can stay.
“If the cattle continue to stay here for the next two months the situation will worsen because the cattle herders are the ones causing insecurity in the area and now all the cattle that were in Melijo, Mugali and other parts in the area are now around Nimule town council together with the civilians who fled their areas because of the presence of the cattle herders and the they are moving with guns which is a problem,” he stated.
Kasmiro urged the people of South Sudan particularly those in Nimule to respect the law citing cattle raiding as a criminal offense.