Jonglei’s Bor in unrest as abduction surges
By Philip Thon Aleu
January 8, 2009 (BOR) – Two girls aged 7 and 9 years were abducted Sunday from Kolnyang Payam after armed men killed their father, Garang Nyok. The incident occurred about 20 miles east of Bor Town in Adol area of Kolnyang Payam, a difficult village to access by road.
Villagers blame Murle tribesmen for the abduction. Locals took spears and a few armed police on a rescue mission but the effort remains fruitless.
Residents of Baidit Payam, which is beyond Kolnya and Makuach Payams, told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that attacks are expected anytime from Murle rustlers.
“You can’t sleep at night,” said resident Kuai Garang, echoing an oft repeated sentiment. “All homes to the east are now empty because people think that they may be attacked anytime.”
Garang grazes his cattle in this deserted village amid such fear. “I look after these cattle all day and won’t leave any chance. I am not considering going to Bor Town because life will be hard,” he said.
Baidit suffered a heavy flood in 2008 but villagers are optimistic that the next farming season could be better. “No worry at all,” Mary Achol said. “We shall start tilling our gardens whether there are Murle or not,” she added.
In the village of Angakuei, like other Bor settlements, the residential area spreads from the River Nile in the west outward to the east. Ever since the Bor Community started accusing Murle of child abductions in the 1970s, homes to the east are vulnerable during part of the year.
Murle on the other hand throw back the accusation at the Bor claiming that they are “buying children.” The Bor strongly defend their position, citing evidence against the Murle such as killings of people attempting to resist armed rustlers and the fact that children abducted by Murle tribesmen sometimes return to their parents in Bor.
Jonglei state, with backing from the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), started disarmament on June 1, 2008 aiming at reducing the indiscriminate killing of people, looting of cattle and abduction of children. As the GoSS presidential decree for six months of disarmament elapses, villagers in Bor County have not seen any significant gains from this effort.
Two children were abducted in Jale during Christmas and an undocumented number of cattle stolen.
On Monday, armed gunman wounded a man at Bor Town airstrip, in what is seen as advancing insecurity up to the state capital.
However, Jonglei remains optimistic that peace will come if citizens realize the importance of peace and stability.
It is unclear where the illegal arms owners obtain ammunition. This, experts say, could be made the priority for the state. “If we block the entire suspect routes for ammunitions, their guns will dry up and will be collected like firewood by the army,” Kuol Chol, a former soldier, said when asked to comment.
(ST)
Jay
Jonglei’s Bor in unrest as abduction surges
Our neighbor Murle should understand that force is not always a solution, when the people of Bor says enough is enough, lets finish the business once and for all, it will caused an outcry to the international community and that’s not often a fair way to go.
When it’s said, let there be harmony, that’s means peace, but if this irritation reaches the point of no return, it’d spell a disaster.
A good fence doesn’t make a good neighbor, but a good neighbor always make a good fence.
J.James
Jonglei’s Bor in unrest as abduction surges
Hi guys
I am deadly tired of this periodic complains against Murle community. Therefore, I am calling Jongolei government to deploy police force around those affected communities in order to fan off those criminals.
I also urge Bor community to step up some protective efforts to secure their families against those aimless criminals or rather stop making provocative accusations against Murle community without ligitimate evidence because Bor need to remember that, they are on the war with different communities in the region. It does not make great sence to point finger to one particular direction when you know that you are surounded by many neighbors who don’t have good terms with you. As matter of fact, Bor for instant don’t have nice relationship with Mundari, Nuer, Murle, Alyab and even some of their own subtribes within Bor itself. Hence that make things very difficult to infer simply who carried out such awkward attacks.
In addition, Bor need to stop making such kind of galling remarks because Murle as a community will not accept any accusation of this nature without crystal prove of the crimes being actually committed by their members.
As I said earlier, police must be deployed to comprehend or kill those lawless guys such that the entire region should not be brought into unwanted scalation of wars.
But reaching to the conclusion without concret evident is a crime by itseft according to the international law because your lamb can be stolen by hyena today for example and by wild bear the next day. In other words, tealing yesterday does not justify you to the thieft crime committed today. Please Bor when your spoon is missing tomorrow try to look around before naming Murle as a prime suspect that is completely unfair.
Be aware that, Murle lost a lot of cows and kids every year and non of us had pointed finger to any community atless we caught them red handed.
I hope everybody agree.
God bless
Gatwech
Jonglei’s Bor in unrest as abduction surges
My Bor Dinka Cousins,
The fact of the matter on child abduction, stealing or selling whatever you want to call it is that it started as a commercial adoption exchange of Bor children and Murle cattle in the 1970s. How? My Nuer elders told me the story that there was a time the Murle people experienced outbreak of syphillis disease which caused their men and women to become infertile. The Bor Dinka being smart enough to do the unthinkable in their historical madness in search of survival, they identified Murle as a potential market of children. They started by exchanging their children born out of wedlock (read GOSS discussions on that), it came to the stage that the Bor would steal their neighbors children and sold them to Murle families who were in need of children because the syphilis prevented them from producing in those years of outbreak. Then the Murle became too greedy for children and decided to steal by themselves so that they don’t pay cows and then when the stealing became difficult they resorted to abduction. So, there is no way the Bor Dinka can deny these well known historical facts which the Murle are now telling the world!!!!
Makeer
Jonglei’s Bor in unrest as abduction surges
The Murle’s thing will never stop, unless this tribe is subjected to severe punishment. Educating them could have been helpful, but the problem is that their youths who practise such despecable acts are bushgoers. They are not foumd at home. All political leaders from Pibor areas must be held accountable…
Gatwech
Jonglei’s Bor in unrest as abduction surges
Bor Dinka,
What I know for sure is that you either have thick brains that do not understand things, or you are congenital liars who do not want the truth to be revealed about you. All people know that the child abduction began as a trade of children between Murle and Bor where the Bor sell their rejected kids to Murle. Yes, the Murle can now abduct children from Nuer, Bari, Anyuak, Mundari, Dinka in general, etc., but the cause was the Bor Dinka who showed the Murle this barbaric kind of thing. There is nothing you can do about it on the web than to change your names from Dinka names to Equatorian names like Kwaje, etc. It is a crime and shameful barbaric historical fact the Bor Dinka have to admit and live with for the rest of their existence on this planet earth. The Bible says speak the truth and the truth shall set you free. Don’t do the opposite simply because you have discovered that it is a shame. It is like the Bor commanders who never fought the war but kept hidden in refugee camps and IDPs camps but later claimed that they practically participated in the war. Our strategies have worked and brought you self-determination which you now put your all hopes in. Just appreciate it and don’t live in the state of denial. Free yourselves from this!!!!