At least two cattle keepers were killed and more than 50 herds of cattle were raided in Magiri village, Central Equatoria State, by suspected cattle rustlers on Tuesday, a community member confirmed.

Samson Jada, one of the community members from Magiri Village in Juba County, told The City Review that the two were killed after being ambushed by unidentified armed cattle robbers on Tuesday.

Mr Jada revealed that some cattle keepers from Lake State who had been crossing there were attacked by a suspected Murle group. The attackers killed two members of that group and went away with more than 50 heads of cattle.

Jada said Magiri Village was one of the areas along the Juba-Bor road where many cattle traders from greater Jonglei, Pibor, Eastern Equatoria and Lakes states are conducting their business.

“This is something that we have not witnessed, and even though we do not want to see it happening here, we do not have such a culture, and even the incident has created fear in our people because it is going to create a culture of revenge killing in the area, which is dangerous,” he was worried.

He called on cattle keeping communities in the area to copy the examples of peaceful co-existence from the host community, saying this is the only way that can make their business grow.

“I want to tell our brothers who are doing cattle business here that we do not want to see such things happening here. This is where our children, women, and the elderly live. Carrying such activities among them is something they fear.”

He urged the Central Equatoria State government to take measures against those who are behind such activities and called for an immediate investigation into the matter.

However, efforts to reach the Juba County Commissioner and Central Equatoria State Information Minister for comments on the matter were not immediately successful as the two did not answer our calls.