In a fresh armed violence in the oil-rich Abyei region, the area government accuses elements of the SSPDF of attempting to assassinate two government officials. File Photo
The leadership of the disputed oil-rich region of Abyei accused some elements of the South Sudan People’s Defence Force [SSPDF] stationed at the contested Rumamier area of attempting to assassinate the Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agency, Abionyweng Majith, and the County Commissioner of Rumamier County Ayuel Kiir on 7 April 2024 in Abyei.
According to Abyei Minister of Education, Nyinkwany Aguer Bol—who is also the acting Minister of Information, Culture, youth, and Sports—the assassination attempt left three guards dead and five others wounded including the county commissioner of Rumamier County, Ayuel Kiir.
Speaking to Golden Times, Education Minister Nyinkwany Aguer said the murder was pre-planned by elements of SSPDF to eliminate the governing leadership of the disputed Abyei area.
“This incident has a clear indication and of a plan from elements of SSPDF that they don’t want the presence of Abyei Civil Administrative in Agok, with the proven evidence of targeting the minister of local government and law enforcement agency,” Aguer said.
Aguer urged the top command of the SSPDF to investigate the incident and hold the culprits to book. He also requested the army leadership to immediately redeploy the forces out of Agok/Aniet town as per their mission.
Two months ago, over 80 people were killed in a separate fight linked to a land wrangling between the Twic and Dinka Ngok communities.
The Oil-Rich Abyei Area covers 4,000 square miles of desert, farmland, and oil fields located along the ill-defined border between Sudan and South Sudan. Abyei is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan and has been a source of conflict between the two countries for decades.
Abyei is the traditional homeland of the Ngok Dinka, a tribal group with strong ethnic, cultural, and linguistic ties to the Dinka of South Sudan. Misseriya herders, members of a northern nomadic Arab tribe, seasonally traverse Abyei and other North-South border areas with their cattle in search of water and pasture in the dry season and to trade goods.
With this latest accusation against the elements of the SSPDF, it is not immediately clear what triggered the shooting but there has been communal conflict between the Twic Dinka tribal members from the neighboring Warrap State and Ngok Dinka of Abyei over the ownership of Agok and Aniet areas within the Abyei demilitarized zone commonly known as Abyei Box.
Last year, Noon Deng Nyok, the Deputy Chief Administrator of Abyei, along with five other people were killed during an ambush by an armed group at Wunpeth, near Agok.
Attempts to reach out to the Spokesperson of SSPDF Major General Lul Ruai Koang have been futile.
Golden Times | South Sudan
