The Governor of Central Equatoria State Emmanuel Adil Anthony has called on the communities to provide safe passage for evicted cattle keepers and their animals.
In the gubernatorial order issued on Thursday, Adil instructed the County Commissioners of Central Equatoria to enforce the Presidential directive of evicting cattle herders from the Greater Equatorial region.
He directed all security operatives to reinforce the County Commissioners.
The order came in the wake of the killing of 27 civilians in Likamerok Village on February 2nd by suspected cattle herders from Jonglei State.
“I do hereby issue this gubernatorial order directing all County Commissioners to intensify their daily operations on the repatriation of the cattle herders to their respective places of origin with immediate effect from today,” it said.
Adil directed heads of security units to help county commissioners to implement presidential orders issued in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
“The order directs the cattle herders to adhere to all the Republican Orders together with the Gubernatorial Orders for the swift repatriation of the cattle herders,” it noted.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in a statement revealed that about 2,000 people, including 30 unaccompanied children were forced to flee from their homes in Kajo Keji due to the violence.
Among those killed were four volunteers from the South Sudan Red Cross Society, who were stationed in the area to conduct Ebola awareness following the previous outbreak of the deadly disease in neighboring Uganda.
The Red Cross said its volunteers in Kajo-Keji were taken from their homes and “callously killed”.
Conflict between cattle herders from Jonglei state and farming communities in Eastern Equatoria and Central Equatoria states have been ongoing since early 2022.
