In Tonj State, four community leaders were shaved with broken pieces of glass bottle for their alleged roles in an inter-clan conflict in Tonj North County last week.

The communal violence which erupted in the area last year left about 24 people dead and 19 others wounded.

Three local chiefs were arrested on Monday while the payam administrator was detained the following day over ‘uncooperativeness’.

The unnamed traditional leaders are now under detention without charges after being arrested by authorities in Tonj North County headquarters.

According to Bath Gur Deng, the Secretary General of the Marial-ahou community to which the chiefs belong, the elders have been accused of refusal to reveal the whereabouts of youth who escaped from the county prison recently.

The youth were arrested following an inter-communal clash in the county last November.

“They [youth] were arrested and brought to the county headquarters so that their case against them would be established. But the case was not found,” Mr Deng told Eye Radio.

“The county authorities then released them. Now they are saying they have to be brought back by force yet the chiefs were not involved in the bailout. They were not bailed out by the chiefs.”

Mr Deng asserted that the chiefs were also subjected to corporal punishment.

He added the traditional leaders were also subjected to corporal punishment. Each received 200 lashes.

For his part, the Tony North County Commissioner, Tito fijin Ayii, said the security situation has been worsening in the last few days due to the escape of the suspects.

“So we sent forces to arrest the suspects. The army tried to find out from the chiefs, but when the chiefs denied, this is when the chiefs were arrested,” Mr Ayii said.