Major General Elia Costa, Police Commissioner in Jonglei State [in Police uniform] - Courtesy

The lack of cooperation between SPLM-IG and SPLM-IO officials in counties controlled by the opposition in Jonglei state is affecting police work, the Police commissioner has said.

Major General Elia Costa said this has increased rampant revenge killing, especially in the opposition-controlled counties.

General Costa pointed out that SPLM-IO officials in Akobo, Nyirol, and Fangak counties are not cooperating with the Police headquarters in Bor.

“Akobo is still not sharing (crime) reports with us and the state has knowledge of that,” said General Elia Costa.

“When the county commissioner was appointed, we sent our chief inspector with the commissioner but after reaching there in Akobo, they rejected him and asked him to return to Bor,

“It’s not Akobo alone, like Nyirol which is divided into two, part of it under government and the other under SPLM/A-IO and then Uror and Fangak.  This has affected the work of the police a lot,

“When a crime happens, it is the police that carries out investigations and arrests the perpetrators and brings them to book,

“Now, there are cases happening and the perpetrators are not arrested, and at times it results in a revenge killing. This is affecting law enforcement,

“It is the higher authorities of the agreement who solve the problem and unite us the organized forces under one umbrella.”

For his part, the Akobo County Commissioner, John Chuol Tot said that what happened in Akobo over the rejection of a police inspector was an isolated incident.

Based on the revitalized peace agreement, Chuol was appointed by President Salva Kiir on the SPLM-IO ticket.

He insisted his county is working with the state police authorities in combating crimes.

The Commissioner, however, admitted that there was misinformation about the visit of the state police chief inspector, leading to his rejection and subsequent expulsion by the local population in the county.

“I was appointed by the President of the Republic of South Sudan and my governor is in Bor. I am under the leadership of the governor. How can I isolate my county? the Commissioner of Akobo told Eye Radio on Tuesday.

“The commissioner who came to Akobo is our brother and I was the one who told him to come to Akobo,

“We went to Akobo on a different flight to Akobo. He took his flight from Bor and I took my chartered flight from Juba and we met in Akobo,

“He told the people that he was a police inspector in charge of Akobo County but people misunderstood him and thought he would be in charge of Akobo police in Bor.”

General Costa appealed to the parties to the peace agreement to expedite the unification of forces to allow for concerted and robust combating of crimes among law enforcement agencies.

Jonglei is one of the most volatile states in the country fraught with cattle-driven conflict, revenge killing, and child abduction.