By Taban Henry
Authorities in Dollo Payam of Juba County in Central Equatoria State said insecurity has become a threat to the civilians in the area.
This came on Saturday during a visit of the Central Equatoria State Advisor for Gender Child and Social Welfare Mariam Aguli Zachariah to the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp in Sirimon.
The State Advisor for Gender paid a courtesy visit to the IDPs in order to acquaint herself with the challenges facing the IDPs who fled their homes due to insecurity.
In a statement to the media on Saturday, Elly Noma Lotiu Manase, one of the locals said they are facing a lot of problems especially the issue of cattle destroying gardens adding that their goats were also being stolen.
“Our lives are in danger, we are thinking a lot because if you want to go to the garden there is violence, we don’t know what to do now, in the recent rainy days going to the gardens is not easy and cannot help” he said.
Mr. Lotiu appealed to the government to look into the issues of cattle citing that what was planted have been destroyed by the cattle and now the people are suffering.
Meanwhile Maj. Gen. Mayen Malual Deng, the army area commander confirmed that the people living in Dollo are facing serious insecurity adding that they have three kinds of insecurity that’s the rebels, cattle keepers and the issue of highway robbery.
He however added that the problem of highway robberies has already been handled but now the problem of cattle has become a very big threat to people in the area.
“We wanted the State governor to give an order so that everybody has to go with his cattle to their various areas with their cattle. The insecurity currently that we are facing here in Kuda is caused by the National Salvation Front (NAS) who normally burn cars and rob people along the roads and kidnapping people in order to join their liberation creating a very big problem to us in the area” stated the area army commander.
Malual cited that the issue of cattle is worsening saying if the little maize around the homesteads in the area, if they are supposed to be in the garden it would have been destroyed down by the cattle.
He disclosed that soldiers were deployed every morning to the area in order to protect people not to be robbed along the road.
“I am calling on our citizens not to be enemies to their own government, the problem is cattle should be at their own places and they should know that we are staying here because of them they should not do destruction on the roads because the rebels you’re hearing are not the soldiers of the government” said Malual.
“These are the civilians increasing the insecurity. If they know we are their government why are they joining the rebels?” he questioned.
Malual further stressed that the citizens are complaining because of insecurity because once they are to go outside for farming you will be killed so all people are coming to where the barrack is for safety.