Lou Nuer White Army - Courtesy

The Chief Administrator of Pibor has told the visiting AU Security Council delegation that youth in the greater Jonglei are more armed than the government.

This, Lokoli Amee Bullen says, is the cause of the unending cycle of violence in the greater Jonglei area.

The restive Jonglei state has been rocked by a circle of communal violence observers attribute to revenge killings and cattle rustling.

There have also been armed and highway robberies on the major roads linking the state to its neighbors.

Most of the remote areas in the Greater Jonglei have continued to experience child abductions, cattle raiding, communal and tribal violence.

Chief Administrator Amee said the unending violence in the area is due to the presence of arms in the hands of the civilians.

He was speaking yesterday after meeting the delegation of the African Union Peace and Security Council in Pibor town.

“The Youth are more armed than the government and that is the reason sometimes youth from Pibor and its neighboring communities engage in endless violence, our youth are heavily armed more than the government,” Amee said.

For her part, Jean Kamau, Kenya’s permanent representative to the African Union who also heads the Security Council delegation said.

“We as the Security Council, are very concerned about the communal violence that has hit this area, we want to see concerted effort and meaningful intervention to prevent escalation of tension and also support the community peace initiative so that they can provide much confidence to the community. This is to ensure they coexist peacefully,” Ambassador Jean said.

“There is a need for the UNMISS to be supported, we need to thank them for putting up the infrastructure here for supporting the people working  here, a lot of promises have been made but a lot of work needs to be done.”

Last month 32 people were killed and several others injured after gunmen attacked Baidit Payam of Bor County.      

In November last year, 9 people were reportedly killed in two separate incidents in Bor town.

Greater Jonglei authorities have been convening peace and reconciliation conferences to discuss the issues of killings and cattle rustling in their surroundings.

But revenge attacks, cattle raiding, and child abduction in some areas still persist.

The UN Mission in South Sudan reports that revenge attacks and cattle-related killings remain the biggest insecurity incidents after political violence subsided in the country following the signing of the revitalized peace agreement.