By Bida Elly David
Communities in Eastern Equatoria state’s Pageri area have been advised against having strained relationships with the military stationed there to maintain order and security.
In recent months, residents have complained of a series of insecurity incidents believed to have been caused by military officers stationed there.
But the Area commander in Pageri, only known as Gen. Suleiman said the soldiers are technical officers that need to be treated with care to render protection.
“I want to tell the civilians living in any Moli, Pageri, Loa that they should look at the soldiers around them as their brothers, not enemies,” he said on Tuesday while addressing believers of Loa parish.
Gen. Sulieman said, “You should avoid the fallacy of generalizing any soldier in uniform as a killer, it is very dangerous and harmful.”
He, however, pointed out that parental negligence is one of the factors that constitute to children disrespecting authority.
“We all know that death happens through killing, anywhere anyhow. If a soldier intimidates you, report him to his concerned commander and stop abusing. Some of them are dangerous once annoyed,’’ he said.
“Avoid training your kids in a very complicated way. Some of these kids form different groups, carry machetes, and rebel against the forces and others against their own parents.”
Officer Sulieman noted that their deployment to Eastern Equatoria was not done on tribal lines but rather to serve the nation.
“We in the military respect the rights of every community including their children. We should not leave our kids to misbehave just because we are committed as parents. We will not leave them once in our hands,” he echoed.
He vowed to serve the community for protection and urged those in exile to come back to their homes and resume activities to support themselves.
“The conflict indeed displaced to Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and others but everything has end. Let them come and start rebuilding themselves as well as the Church of the Lord,” he said.
Bishop Emmanuel Barnando Lowi urged young people, especially indigenous people, to speak up and respect authority figures and their elders.
He said through respect or dignity, the ecosystem will be transformed into a better place for all children of God.