Butcheries in Yei County have been temporarily closed down after clashes over cattle. [Gurtong/Petia Suliman Loro]
By Petia Suliman Loro and Abraham Agoth
YEI, 13 June 2012 [Gurtong] – The Saturday midday incident claimed a life while three other people sustained injuries and are currently receiving treatment at Yei Civil Hospital.
Reports indicate that the clashes were occasioned by the violation of an agreement between the two communities of Dinka Yirol and Mundari on buying cattle from Uganda on a rotational system.
The chief inspector of police in Yei County Charles Michael Mwala told Gurtong that the chiefs of the two communities have been arrested in connection with the incident and are awaiting arraignment in court.
Meanwhile, the acting Yei River County Commissioner Cosmas Lokiko has ordered the closure of butcheries in the area until investigations into the incident are completed.
He also urged area residents to remain calm and continue with normal business.
Ethnic Clashes
In related news, two people have been killed in inter-ethnic clashes in Malual Payam in Aweil North County, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
Reports indicate that two men from the Dinka ethnic community were killed when a clash erupted between members of the Dinka Malual community of Aweil North County and Rezeigat nomad-pastoralists who had invaded their farms in search of pasture.
Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Anguei Diing said the flare up was occasioned by a disagreement after cattle owned by the Rezeigat pastoralists strayed into the Dinka farms and destroyed crops.