By Ijoo Bosco
Authorities in Kidepo Valley have expressed grave concern over rising insecurity in the area. At least nine people have been killed, this month.
Tito Abas Omoro Ohide, the Executive Director of Kidepo Valley in Cahari Payam, Ikotos County, provided harrowing details of the incidents.
According to Ohide, on August 7th, two children, Boyi Ongie (7 years old) and Odwa Okwahi (12 years old), were killed and mutilated with machetes while scaring birds on a farm in Lobira Boma.
On August 4th, an elderly man named Onito Okudo was shot dead while bathing in a stream near the Lobira Cahari headquarters. The suspected perpetrators were youth from Budi County.
This prompted the local youth to retaliate, killing one person from the Budi side, sparking a cycle of revenge killings.
On August 1st, a cattle trader named Deng Ajak was killed between Lobira and Kidepo areas. The following week, on August 4th, a 7-year-old child was also killed and mutilated in the Lotome area of Losite Payam.
Ohide further reported that on August 6th, two suspected criminals were killed while attempting to rob vehicles in the Okuma Mafi area. They were identified as Buya youth.
“In my jurisdiction yesterday in Lobira boma, they killed children, chopping them with machetes. One of them was called Boyi Ongie, 7 years old, and the other was Odwa Okwahi, 12 years old. They were protecting the garden,” Ohide said in a Juba Arabic interview.
He expressed dismay at the alarming level of violence that has gripped the Kidepo Valley region, emphasizing that at least nine to ten people have been killed in cold blood and through revenge attacks in the first few days of this month alone.
Ohide called on the authorities to take immediate action to restore peace and security in the area, urging the public to remain vigilant and cautious amid the deteriorating situation.