Clad in a white traditional kanzu reserved for respected men in the society, he walked in at Hai Police in Terekeka County, Central Equatoria State, ready to be part of the peace agreement that would be signed to put to rest the cyclic bouts of violence perpetrated by the cattle raiders. His traditional tattoos beamed from his face communicating the message from a Mundari man. Albino Legge Lodu, a chief at Lori is a man with a crown but a paining heart that power cannot heal.
Mr Lodu is one of the victims drawn from the troubled 11 payams that have lost herds of cattle and precious lives whenever violence erupts due to rustling. The areas under distress were represented by chiefs during the three-day peace agreement that was organised by the Impact Response Committee (IRC) and the Traditional leaders of Terekeka. The event ran from Friday January 15 to Sunday January 17 during which the community sought for lasting remedy. Every chief took to the podium to address the gathering to relay a message of peace and recount that the past must be stashed in a garbage bin.
Spoke his mind
It was at this moment that Lodu sent a warning that the peace being pursued would remain a pipe dream if no stolen herds of cattle would be returned. He spoke his heart out and at the right time according to his judgment.
“I am not happy with this peace conference being called yet my own brothers kill my people, take my cows and now I am being forced to talk about peace. These young boys will cause another fight, and I will be seen as a trouble shooter and yet it is the young boys disturbing me,” he said
“What I am saying now is that I want my cows back I am not happy with all these and if these boys don’t want me, then I will look for another brother and I will go away and look for another besides I have five crowds of cows I will go away and leave them.”
He abruptly cut his speech to follow the proceedings but his seething anger was imminent. His eyes were red and soaked in tears and complemented with his facial traditional marks; Lodu was a fierce tiger with pronounced tear marks.
Drawn from the Muni-Payam, Lodu was longing for peace and dressed in a white regalia to support the initiative. But just like other aggrieved person, they are willing to give peace in return of their stolen treasures. He settled down under a tree to narrate this reporter how a single night of raid ended the lives of his 15 family members as the rustlers made way with his 800 herds of cattle. In a succinct description, Lodu had the warmth of his family prior to October 2020, but come the following month, he was kinless. Also, he had lost his wealth with an approximated value of USD 800,000.
“I received a phone call at night alerting me that I was going be attacked [and] by the time I woke up it was too late. People were already firing at each other until they chased us away from the village.
It was actually a very bad fight. They picked two young women and killed them on spot, they got two babies and killed them and they also killed one teenage girl, two adults and eight youth. [So] 15 people that day were killed,” he said, as he fought off tears to restore regain his composure. Amongnthe 15 people who were slain, Lodu lost two daughters and a son.
Elusive sanity
He remains non-committal to the peace agreement saying he wants his cattle back first before promising to honour the agreement.
‘’If my cows are not brought back, then we will never cross each other’s path and I will not unite with these people because they are disturbing me. [They are] taking my cows and killing my people and they have been taking my cows in fact not only me they keep taking other people’s goats they find on their way,’’ he said.
It is a deeply-seated cattle rustling problem that has seen the law enforcers being dragged into the mess and accused of abetting the problem. According to Lodu, they are on their own in this problem.
‘‘… because of favoritism and lack of justice, the thieves will not stop stealing our cows and this issue will never stop,’’ he lamented.
The peace agreement stipulated a three-month duration in which all stolen cattle should be returned. The Secretary General of the defunct Terekeka State Laku Zechariah Elia Konga said the Government urged the chiefs to facilitate the process and identify all them stolen herds of cattle. But for Lodu, healing is a process, and it will take the return of his wealth.
‘’People who died are not able to come back to life. I want my cows back and that’s how we will have peace,’’ he said.