South Sudan army commander proposes separate state for Nuer to end ethnic tensions

JUBA — A senior South Sudanese army commander has proposed the creation of a separate state for the Nuer community as a way to end recurring ethnic violence, warning that civilians were being dragged into a conflict they did not understand and risked being “finished for no cause.”

Johnson Olony, the deputy army chief for disarmament and mobilization and leader of the Agwelek militia, made the comments on Friday while meeting Jonglei Governor Riak Gai Kok, an ethnic Nuer, in Poktap of Jonglei State.

Olony said communities in Greater Upper Nile were exhausted by years of fighting and questioned why civilians were increasingly being mobilized into the conflict between government forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO).

“I said we are tired in [Greater] Upper Nile because of the fighting every day,” Olony said. “What brings civilians into the SPLA-IO? The SPLA-IO is fighting the SPLM-IG, so what brings civilians into this fight?”

Drawing on his own past experience, Olony said civilians should not be part of armed confrontations, recalling earlier battles in which he said only combatants were involved.

“When I was fighting the SPLM-IG with Thomas Mabor, no Shilluk civilian came in,” he said. “It was only me and Mabor who fled when we were defeated. If we defeated them, they ran alone. So what brings civilians into this?”

Speaking in the Nuer language during part of the address, Olony issued a stark warning about the consequences of civilian mobilization, saying the Nuer community risked destruction without understanding the stakes of the war.

“This tribe of yours, the Nuer, will be finished for no reason,” he told Governor Riak Gai. “They do not really understand what will happen.”

Olony questioned the purpose of the ongoing campaign across Jonglei, listing a series of locations throughout Jonglei.

“Why would I leave Juba, come to Bor, then to Poktap, then to Duk Padiet, then fight in Pathai and Yuai — for what?” he asked.

He rejected the idea that the conflict could result in ethnic domination, arguing that the Nuer as a group could not rule South Sudan, while distinguishing between ethnic rule and national leadership.

“If it is about power, about the Nuer ruling, the Nuer will never rule us as a tribe,” Olony said. “But Riek [Machar], or Riak Gai Kok, can rule us — because when Riek Machar rules, he rules South Sudan.”

Olony then revived a controversial idea he said he had raised previously, suggesting that lasting peace would only be possible if the Nuer community were given their own state or country.

“What we need to do is give the Nuer their own country, so the Nuer can rule themselves,” he said.

The remarks come a week after Olony issued hardline orders to troops preparing for a government offensive in Jonglei, telling them to “spare no lives,” including civilians, statements that alarmed human rights groups and observers who warned of the risk of mass abuses in a region with a history of ethnically driven violence.

Olony commands the Agwelek forces, a militia largely drawn from the Shilluk community that has fought on multiple sides of South Sudan’s conflicts and has not been fully integrated into the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF).

His units are currently operating alongside government troops against SPLA-IO forces, which authorities accuse of attempting to expand control toward central Jonglei and the national capital, Juba.

South Sudan has been plagued by cycles of violence since independence in 2011, with conflicts frequently taking on ethnic dimensions involving Dinka, Nuer and Shilluk communities.