The community leaders, youth, women, sub-chiefs, and local authorities in Unity State’s Mayom County have called for deploying the SSPDF along their borders with Warrap State, Ruweng Administrative Area, and Rubkona County.
The proposal was made late last week during a peace conference in Mayom, organized by legislators from the state parliament.
“I would be good if the SSPDF can be deployed to hotspot areas, especially the three gates leading to Warrap, Ruweng’s Abiemnom County, and Rubkona County,” said the chairperson of the Mayom County Women’s Union, Nyarieka Monytuil Wejang. “We need the SSPDF to stop the raiders from going to Warrap, Rubkona, and Ruweng because it is the work of the government to control criminals and stop raiders.”
“The government should protect the lives and properties of all citizens,” she added.
Meanwhile, James Nhial, the head of the cattle keepers in the county, said cattle raiding continues because there are not enough security forces to check the vice.
“I am appealing to the government to deploy enough forces to areas like the road leading to Twic Mayardit (Warrap) and the borders of Mayom County because the criminals use the roads to go and raid cattle,” he said.
For his part, the youth leader of Buk Payam in Mayom County, James Jal, also reiterated calls for the army to be deployed, but said cattle raids are happening due to poverty and hunger.
“The problem of the cattle raiders is increased by hunger, and this is why the youths are going to raid cattle from those locations,” Jal explained.
However, Doctor Riek Koang, a civil society activist and the program coordinator for Street Children Care Initiative (SCCI), said security forces often desert their posts due to a lack of budgets for their sustenance.
“The issue is not about the deployment of forces but the lack of budget for their operations at the borders. When they are deployed, they return to where they came from because they do not have money for operations,” he stressed. “So, they will not stay where they are deployed unless there is a budget.”
The speaker of the Unity State Legislative Assembly, Niger Nger Banguot, who led the delegation of parliamentarians to the peace conference, said the dialogue concluded well with calls for the deployment of the army.
Before the final conference on Friday, peace dialogues were held in the three payams of Bieh Nyang, Mankien Center, and Mayom Town.
“We are going to take the request of the community to deploy the SSPDF to the leadership of the government,” Speaker Nger said. “The local community, youth, women, head of cattle keepers, and sub chiefs agreed to advise the youth not to go and raid cattle from any location.”
The speaker concurred that the security forces deployed in and around Mayom County are not enough to check insecurity and cattle rustling.