{"id":40094,"date":"2025-09-30T11:25:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=40094"},"modified":"2025-09-30T11:25:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:25:50","slug":"lobong-machi-community-unite-to-combat-criminal-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/lobong-machi-community-unite-to-combat-criminal-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Lobong, Machi community unite to combat criminal groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Eastern Equatoria Governor Louis Lobong held a grassroots security meeting with the Machi community in Katiko Payam.<\/p>\n

The meeting followed the recent attack by armed criminals in Kapoeta Town.<\/p>\n

According to the statement the meeting is aimed at \u00a0restoring peace in Greater Kapoeta.<\/p>\n

While speaking at a grassroots security sensitization meeting in Katiko Payam on Sunday, Lobong urged locals to resist supporting armed groups that \u201cseek to import war\u201d into the state warning that looting and violence would only backfire on the communities themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appeal to you to protect your children from being mobilized into meaningless armed groups. Looting and violence will not bring progress but only suffering to our people,\u201d the Governor was quoted as saying according to the governor\u2019s press unit.<\/p>\n

The Governor, cautioned against attacks on businesses in Kapoeta, stressing that most shops belong to Toposa community members. \u201cWhen you loot and destroy shops, you are destroying the livelihoods of your own brothers and sisters, and you are destroying the infrastructure of your own town,\u201d Lobong added.<\/p>\n

In a show of solidarity, Machi youth, elders, and women publicly distanced themselves from the perpetrators, blaming some politicians for attempting to lure local youth into illegal activities. \u201cMachi stands for peace, not crime. We will cooperate fully with security forces to identify criminals and report suspicious activities in our villages,\u201d a community representative said in a statement on behalf of the youth and elders.<\/p>\n

Community leaders pledged full cooperation with government forces, vowing to identify criminal hideouts and accompany security teams in future operations. \u201cWe will single out any wrongdoers, monitor abnormal movements, and report suspicious activities,\u201d the governor\u2019s press unit quoted one elder.<\/p>\n

Governor Lobong\u2019s appeal extended to neighboring Toposa communities, urging restraint and unity to prevent further destabilization. The Machi community\u2019s commitment marks a significant step in local peacebuilding efforts, reinforcing the role of civic engagement in countering insecurity.<\/p>\n

As Eastern Equatoria grapples with rising tensions, the Machi community\u2019s stance offers a model for grassroots collaboration in safeguarding lives, livelihoods, and regional stability.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement Eastern Equatoria Governor Louis Lobong held a grassroots security meeting with the Machi community in Katiko Payam. The meeting followed the recent attack by armed criminals in Kapoeta Town. According to the statement the meeting is aimed at \u00a0restoring peace in Greater Kapoeta. While speaking at a[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":40095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-central-equatoria-state","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Loung.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40096,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40094\/revisions\/40096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}