Juba, South Sudan,
March 14, 2022 – Aleu Ayieny Aleu, the governor of South Sudan’s Warrap State, refutes allegations that his government has direct involvement in recent clashes between the Twic Mayardit Community of Warrap State and sections of the Ngok Dinka of Abyei Administration areas.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Governor Aleu described his role and that of president Salva Kiir as a fatherly role that takes no side in the conflict but trying to find solution to contain and end the intra-communal conflict.
“When brothers are in dispute, the father takes no side. He looks for a solution by working hard to ensure the cause of the dispute is identified and the problem is solved.” Governor Aleu said.
“This is exactly what president Salva Kiir has done. It has formed an investigation committee to investigate and find out the cause of tension and violent behaviour which resulted in the unfortunate loss of lives and properties”, he concluded.
Accusing social media users, governor Aleu said his disappointment on how social media is being used to escalate the conflict that should be contained.
“These are the people we should identify and speak to them. They are not helping they are escalating the conflict and indeed it is the manner in which the information is passed by these people in the social media which is causing tension and clashes. These people need to stop. They are fueling the conflict,” stressed Aleu while speaking to Sudan Tribune.
“Hate speech kills and people engaged in these activities, conducting live video on Facebook, and making hateful comments should be identified” He continued.
The Abyei Administrative Area has found itself sandwiched in a blood internal communal conflicts, one from the Sudanese tribes and another from the South Sudanese tribes.
On March 6, Abyei witnessed intensive attacks, believed to have been carried out by the Sudan’s Misseriya herders, leading to death of at least 27 people and then followed by attacks by youth from Twic Mayardit tribe from Warrap state.
According to UNOCHA, more than 20, 000 people were displaced to Twic county in Warrap State before the conflict turned to the opposite direction.
“The majority of people fled to Abyei town, while others sought refuge in areas further south, with more than 20,400 people registered in Twic County in Warrap State”, reads a statement puts out UNOCHA.
As a result of these attacks in Abyei, Humanitarian operations in affected areas were suspended and Aid workers were evacuated to safety; however, UNISFA has reportedly continued to provide security to humanitarian compounds and warehouses in affected areas which are receiving an influx of the IDPs.
When asked about these attacks governor Aleu he only heard the attacks by the Sudanese herders by the word of mouth and was not officially briefed.
