By Hou AKot Hou
Officials in Twic County of South Sudan’s Warrap State are earnestly looking for 24 heads of cattle that have been reported to be missing after owners learnt that the cattle were taken towards the grassland areas locally known as Toich (grassland).
The incident happened on Tuesday night in two separate locations in Twic County: one in Mayen-Abuen Payam and another in Aweng Payam, both in Twic County of Warrap State.
Twic County’s police inspector, Mr. Joseph Mayen, narrated the incident, calling it a pre-arranged plan by the raiders.
He described the incident as a careless act of the owners, as he and the other officials have been urging the owners to be cautious of their cattle in the volatile areas.
“I have been talking day in, day out about the need to avoid living with the cattle in the prone sites where cattle looting occurs,” he said.
He said the first happened in Mayen-Abun payam and another in Aweng payam, which brought together all the cattle to 24, and that efforts are being made to retrieve the cattle.
“We are engaging with the authorities in the neighbouring states to ensure that the culprits are identified so that the cattle are brought back,” he noted.
As cattle are the lifeline for most of the people living in most of the pastoral regions of the Bahr El Ghazal state and those in other states such as Unity, Upper Nile, and Equatorial regions, problems associated with rearing them include cattle theft, rustling, and fighting over pastures.
Officials have been urging the owners to avoid triggering problems related to pastures and call for calm by always respecting norms set for them to keep grazing their animals and avoid the use of force to do revenge killing or looting as a result of incidents of their previous cattle being looted.
Others urge for community policing to be posted in high-risk areas susceptible to such problems. Still, little is being realised in terms of peace on the ground despite the state of emergencies, which remains active in volatile states such as Warrap and Unity states.