By Makur Adut

Authorities in Lakes State have recovered 21 cattle that were previously raided from the area.

The cattle were raided from Yirol East County by a group of armed youth from the Panyijar County of Unity State.

William Koji Kerjok, the acting Minister of Information in Lakes State, said all the children that were abducted were returned alongside the 21 heads of cattle by the organized forces.

“It is the role of the two commissioners to make sure that they are hunted down between Panyijar County and Yirol East,” he said.

According to him, the cattle were not raided from the cattle camp, but the villages of Tit-amak in Malek Payam of Yirol East County.

In April last year (2024), rustlers suspected to be from Panyijar County raided the Aliet cattle camp in Lakes State’s Yirol East County and killed one person, leaving eight others injured.

However, sources said a group of armed youth from the counties of Yirol East, Rumbek Central, and Rumbek North pursued the attackers and recovered most of the stolen cattle and returned them to the owners.

Lakes State Information Minister Paul Cabiet Ayang told the media that the raiders came from Unity State.

“It was an unfortunate incident. These are isolated cases and we condemn them in the strongest terms possible because Lakes State has guaranteed the safety of her citizens within its territory. However, some of our neighbors do not have full control of their territories and you can see that by what is happening now around Panyjiar area and Yirol East County,” Ayang told Radio Tamazuj, adding:

“As government, we are putting in place measures to ensure that such things do not happen again and we will engage all our neighboring state governments to ensure that there are joint security patrols to protect our people. Theft and looting of cattle is a crime and no government will tolerate it.”