By Ijoo Bosco
The Eastern Equatoria State leadership led by the Governor, Louis Lobong Lojore paid a courtesy visit to the State hospital and delivered a message of solidarity to the Murle youth wounded during cattle raid in Kapoeta currently under medication.
Governor Lobong, upon hearing the report on the wounded raiders resting in Napak health facilities, he immediately directed people in the area to protect the wounded and provide necessary assistance for them.
He noted that, the wounded raiders are all fellow South Sudanese and the life of every single South Sudanese matters to their government.
The governor promised that once the wounded youth recover from their gunshot wounds the State government will hand them over to the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.
Lobong then urged the Chief Administrator of Greater Pibor to use the wounded raiders as ambassadors of peace to let them go and propagate to the rest of their fellow colleagues and community the solidarity of the government upon them.
“Right from day one I heard that there were wounded raiders who had reported to Napak, when we had the council of ministers and security meetings, I told the people that we must protect this people, these are South Sudanese now they are wounded they are helpless, we must help them we could have evacuated this people longtime” Lobong noted.
He said those who mobilized the wounded youth and brought them to Buya to go and attack the Toposa deceived the wounded arguing that they should not allow themselves to be taken care in Napak with the government saying they will be killed.
“I think they are also hiding their plans they don’t want this people to reveal the plan how they came to Buya, first of all these are South Sudanese and we are the government, the government of every single South Sudanese, we don’t take side based on tribe and the purpose why we want to protect these people is to teach them and I told the administration of greater Pibor to tell them that this is how the government works, once these people recover we will hand them over and led them go and use this people as ambassadors for peace, let them go and tell the rest what they have seen, the negative impact of fighting or raiding,” Lobong emphasized.
Mr. Lobong also appealed to the Pibor authorities to do the same for any cattle raid captives or survivors from Eastern Equatoria as a gesture of promoting peace and mutual coexistence amongst the neighboring communities in the region.
He called on the partner organizations to build schools to transform the minds of the local people, adding the government believes that the petty crimes that are taking place in their society is because of lack of proper education.
Lobong told the people of Eastern Equatoria State particularly those who were attacked and killed and their cows taken, that they should not be hurt or annoyed by government action to save the lives of the wounded Murle raiders in Torit State hospital.
He added that they should be grateful as God fearing people and then the people of greater Pibor should think twice and imitate the same spirit of solidarity accorded for their sons despite the tragedy they caused to the people of Eastern Equatoria State.
“Saving one life that will go and educate the rest I think we are saving hundreds lives if this five or twenty now in number they all go to their villages and talk to their relatives, talk to their colleague, talk to their age mates there might be a change of behavior in Greater Pibor.
The wounded Murle raiders undertaking medication in Torit State hospital are five in number, they were transferred from Napak of Budi County while twenty of their fellow colleagues refused to be brought to Torit for fear of the unknown claiming they might be killed.
“We need now to shift our focus to improving education, our priests can as well go and teach in schools and be given allowance to improve the quality of education,” Lobong emphasized.