By Adia Jildo
Two people suspected of the murder of 5 and injury of 1 in Lokiliri Payam of Juba County are said to have been arrested by the set investigative personnel, Monday.
The Commissioner of Juba County Charles Joseph Wani said the arrest is a follow up to make sure culprits of the act are brought to book.
The arrest came following statement issued by the ministry of Information of Central Equatoria State, saying that investigation was underway to find the culprits of the act, and bring them to book.
The government also issued a 72 hours ultimatum for the armed cattle herders to evacuate Ngangala and the state at large.
The 72-hour ultimatum is a, “Must move. If not peacefully, forcefully they will move. We are serious about that and we are not giving any room for that,” he stressed, adding that the re-occurrence of the incident has cost a lot of lives of the people of Ngangala.
The Commissioner promised immediate evacuation of the herders to bring calm citing the role of the government in protecting the civilian population.
“The state government is mobilizing enough force to make sure that the cattle herders evacuate whether peacefully or forcefully because we cannot tolerate such activities to continue in Central Equatoria,” he continued. “The 72 hours is to make sure that all the cattle move out of Lokiliri and after that, all the cattle should also be moved out of Central Equatoria to their place of origin”.
Charles said the incident and presence of cattle herders has brought a lot of insecurity hence terming them as the enemy of peace.
The Juba County commissioner said the incident is an intentional act meant to destroy the farms of the people in Lokiliri Payam in their village and displace them.
“Our people of Ngangala have experienced the same tragic measure of many innocent civilians which has become phenomenal” he said.
“Last year we ordered the cattle herders to move, and they moved. This year they sneaked back to Lokiliri and they are finding a way to go back” he said.
Eng. Charles called on the community not to panic as 2 suspects were arrested on the issue of the crime.
He said members of parliament of Bor were summoned on the incident to update them of the incident.
The governor of Central Equatoria Emmanuel Adil Anthony and the commissioner of Juba County Charles Wani is expected to travel to Ngangala to see firsthand situation on the ground.