The local authorities in Warrap State’s Gogrial East County and the neighboring Mayom County in Unity State on Friday raised an alarm over escalating violent cattle raids along their borders in the areas of Gogrial East, Twic, and Mayom counties.
They said coordinated criminality, cattle theft, and wanton killings of innocent citizens surged during the dry season, and that the latest attack on Thursday left two young people dead and three children wounded in the Nyaramum area of Gogrial East County.
Gogrial East County Commissioner William Duchak told Radio Tamazuj that a large group of armed youth, allegedly from Mayom County, attacked the Nyaramun area on Thursday, rustled cattle, and started shooting at people who were sleeping in cattle camps in Toch (wetlands) where herders take their animals for pastures and water during the dry season.
“Communication network was bad yesterday (Thursday), and I am now in Kuajok Town. I managed to talk to my executive director, and he said that these attackers came at around 11 p.m. in Maliai Payam and killed a person from the Jur-Man-Anger area and his relative, a little boy who resided in the same cattle camp. The attackers also wounded two boys and one little girl, and they drove away cattle,” he said. “The local armed youth from the area ran after the raiders, and up to now (Friday), I have not received information about whether they fought with the raiders or recovered some of their cattle because there is no communication.”
“These armed men are criminals from Mayom County because of the direction they took; if they were from Tonj North County, the cattle would have been found,” Commissioner Duchak added.
He said his attempts to contact his Mayom Counterpart to address the matter were futile as the latter’s phone was off. He added that most raided cattle are often not recovered and returned to the owners.
Meanwhile, Mayom County Commissioner Jackson Mut confirmed the raid but blamed his Gogrial East County counterpart, Duchak, for allowing criminals from the two counties to group and operate in his jurisdiction. He said the criminals operate in and plan raids and killings from Gogrial East County’s Mayen Jur area.
“We in Mayorm cannot control our youth because they cooperate with criminals from Mayen Jur, and this area is at the border with Gogrial East, and it is not our area,” he stated. “I was away from the county headquarters for security reasons. I just returned on Friday, and also heard about the incident in Gogrial East.”