Residents desert E. Equatoria villages after violent outbreak
December 20, 2014 (TORIT) – Eastern Equatoria’s Loroyo village in Torit county has been left deserted after residents fled the area amid fears of further retaliation from the neighbouring Idali community.
The two villages of Loroyo and Idali were the scene of deadly tribal clashes earlier this month after tensions between the two communites boiled over.
Most of the victims were women and children.
Torit county commissioner German Charles Ojok said the security situation in the village has remained calm since the deployment of armed forces to restore order in the bordering villages of Loroyo and Idali.
However, despite the security presence on the ground, Ojok said only a handful of villagers remained.
“The community [have] deserted the area [and] we found only very few women and old people who are around in the area,” said Ojok.
Ojok those who remained had been advised to encourage other residents to return to their homes, saying the organised forces deployed in the area would maintain law and order.
He added that those found to have participated in the killing of women and children would be held accountable.
Meanwhile, Ojok also called on Loroyo villagers currently on the run who had not take part in the killings to return with their children, saying their personal safety would be guaranteed by organised forces stationed in the area.
Ojok reiterated that there is no need for the people who had not been a part of the killings flee the village with children and has appealed to residents to return and resume their daily life, saying this would help restore a sense of normality in the two villages.
BODIES OF MISSING FOUND
Ojok said the bodies of three women reported missing following the outbreak of violence had since been found in the bushes.
He explained that one woman had been found in Loroyo by an armed patrol, while another two were found in the northern part of Idali village.
The death toll from Loroyo has now risen from 24 to 30.
Ojok said tensions in the area flared after Idali community mobilised and launched an attack on Loroyo.
Organised forces were subsequently deployed in the border village of Loroyo to calm tensions and prevent the situation getting further out of hand.
(ST)