The country’s biggest opposition group, facing internal divisions amid a persistent political crisis, dismissed criticisms from Nuer representatives as a “lack of common sense!”
On Tuesday this week, the youth and parliamentary representatives of the Nuer community issued statements calling for the resignation of Mr. Lomuro, who also doubles as the secretary of the peace-oversight High-Level Standing Committee.
The advocacy follows a controversial remark issued by the minister on 26th April 2025, in which he categorised nine out of sixteen counties inhabited by the Nuer community as “hostile” to the government, while seven were “friendly,” triggering public outrage.
While the Nuer community has called on President Salva Kiir to relieve Mr Lomuro, the SPLM-IO, a party encompassing senior Nuer political figures, including First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, vindicated Mr Lomuro.
Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, the self-exiled Deputy Chairman of the SPLM-IO, said the cabinet minister simply delivered a message.
“Killing the messenger doesn’t solve the problem. Martin Elia is an agent of state policy,” he wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday.
“Kill the state, you have solved the problem. I am sure Martin Elia didn’t command troops in the 16 counties,” added the Deputy Chairman.
Mr Oyet, who is also the First Deputy Speaker in the Reconstituted National Transitional Legislative Assembly, said: “He [Lomuro] has simply spoken out the fact from the operation room. Do not spear the shadow, spear the elephant.”
Mr. Oyet becomes one of the few senior officials to have come to the defense of Mr Lomuro after Joseph Geng Akech, the Minister of Youth and Sports, who, in an attempt to clarify the statement on behalf of the government told journalists on Monday that the reference to the hostile community did not mean the whole community, but an organized group that attacked the barracks.
The cabinet minister is yet to issue a statement in response to the public outrage.
