By Bida Elly David
Collo parliamentarians in the Transitional National Legislature have condemned the incidents of attacks against unarmed civilians in Adhidiang of Upper Nile region and urged government to take legal measures against the perpetrators with immediate effect.
This month, it was reported that a number of unarmed civilians faced brutal attacks in Adhidhiang County of Upper Nile after conflicts triggered between forces that waged attacks against one another over recurred reasons. The attacks against the civilians raised concerns from the lawmakers emerging from those constituencies.
According to the piled narratives, the incident in Upper Nile contributed to massive displacement of population where majority were women, children and the elderly.
In a press statement seen by No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, the parliamentarians from the aforementioned constituency reiterated that about eight thousand (8,000) civilians were displaced from their homes of origin to seek for refugee.
“We the Collo Members of parliament in the legislature condemn in the strongest terms the incident which took place in Adhidhiang in Panyikang County of Upper Nile at 2:00 Pm on the 8th –September-2022. The population which was displaced from Tonga as a result of the previous conflict consisted of women, children and the elderly settled in Adhidhiang village to receive relief. The number of the displaced according to the figures provided by NGOs is about 8,000 people in the camp,” the statement read in part.
It further revealed that statistics of seven thousand five hundred civilians (7500) in Adhidhiang County escaped death after the tragedy.
Meanwhile, the parliamentarians underscored that unknown number of civilians were reportedly killed while others got drowned in the Nile while fleeing for their safety and protection.
“After the attack on the Adhidhiang area, those who were counted to have survived the attack were reportedly over 7,500. We are shocked and saddened by the heinous attack on the vulnerable and unarmed civilians. As a result, an unknown number of civilians were killed and others drowned in the river Nile as they attempted to seek safety,” the statement added.
The parliamentarians appealed to the government to provide necessary security to protect the entire civilians at the locality and conveyed their words of condolences to the affected families and urged them to be calm until they resolve the matter.
“Collo members in the National Legislature are here by conveying their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims in the incident that occurred in Panyikang County particularly the Adhidhiang area. We reiterate our condemnation for this attack and takes this opportunity to appeal to our government to provide necessary security to protect the innocent civilians,” they said.
They also called on the authority to apprehend the criminals and hold them accountable for the crimes committed. They also urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to extend their support to those affected by the calamity.
“We also call on our government to take quick and serious measures to apprehend the criminals and bring them to books so that such incidents do not repeat themselves and encourage the parties and communities to work for peace and stability in our Country. We appeal to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to provide humanitarian support to the displaced and call on the NGOs and well-wishers to extend relief support to the civilians who have suffered long days and nights trekking for safety,” they appealed.