Cattle raid in Eastern Equatoria leaves over 180 livestock missing

TORIT – More than 180 goats and sheep were stolen from a community in South Sudan’s Imehejek administrative area on Friday afternoon, local officials said.

The incident occurred in Dorit payam, where thieves rounded up livestock from six community kraals while they were near a watering point.

“Our security situation it’s normal accept in Dorik payam the day before yesterday, some goats were stolen by unknown people and the suspected criminals are claim to be from tenet area because we follow the footmark up to a place call Nyario and this is in the land of tenet community,” Mathew Oromo, the Imehejek administrator, told Sudans Post today.

“The goat are 161 and the owners of the kraal are about six among the 161 there are 23 sheep’s and the rest are goats, this goats were stolen from the water point when the owners were very busy with other things so that one remain up to the date of today the monyomiji followed and they gave me the report and they are urging my administration to go and investigate the issue,” he added.

Oromo explained that the thieves’ footprints led to the land of the Tenet community, specifically to a place called Nyario boma under Arilo payam. He stated that 161 goats and 23 sheep were stolen.

Oromo lamented that limited mobility poses a significant challenge in responding quickly to such incidents.

“Am in the western part of Lopit of Imehejek administrative area and I came to Torit to find a way of going back to Imehejek headquarter so that I go and investigate this issue because at the moment we don’t have mobility we are struggling using motor bike and even a boda to reach the location that is why am still around maybe today I will go to Imehejek administrative area,” he added.

Oromo called on the affected communities in Nyario boma to remain calm, assuring them that the county authorities will take drastic measures to recover the stolen livestock.

“My message to the people eastern Equatoria state we as the government of working hard to make sure peace is realize in every corner of eastern Equatoria this issue of cattle theft will not actually help,” he said.

“Let us embrace peace and let us unite and develop our state let us focus on this thing that can develop us like businesses interaction and other things and we will actually built the eastern Equatoria state as a state that can bring change to our country as South Sudan,” added Oromo.