The governor of Gbudue says the state residents are now enjoying relative calm after members of the opposition armed forces responded to the November 2016 presidential amnesty.

More than 1000 soldiers have so far put down their arms and are waiting to be integrated into the organized forces.

Some of them were loyal to the former first vice president Dr Riek Machar; others were members of the South Sudan National Liberation Movement, an armed group which was based in the area.

“More than 1,300 of them are in town. This is what has actually brought peace to Gbudwe State. We are relatively peaceful,” Governor Daniel Badagbu told Eye Radio in an exclusive interview Monday.

The SSNLM signed a preliminary peace deal with the government in November 2015.

In December, President Salva Kiir has endorsed the agreement that had been signed by the former Western Equatoria State government and the vigilante group locally known as Arrow Boys.

As per the peace deal to end hostilities in the region, the state government will help offer the former vigilante group professional military training before it is integrated into the national army.

Since then, integration process has not been initiated due to financial constraints.

“What we are facing right now is to expedite their integration into the army and organized forces because by having them in the state without integration, this will also cause other issues,” Mr Babagbu stressed.

He is currently on an official visit to Juba to try and get funds from the national government to integrate the former armed groups.