The Cueibet county commissioner said Thursday four chiefs were arrested in connection with last week's killing of a senior policeman and two others, as an emloyee of the land survey was found murdered.

Commissioner Mayom Marial said the land surveyor was killed in his Cueibet home in a targeted revenge killing. He attributed the cause to an unresolved interclan feud between the killer and the victim’s family.

Marial accused the four arrested chiefs of failing to cooperate fully with local authorities in an attempt to apprehend the criminals behind the policeman's murder.

“You know, those arrested chiefs were given a 48-deadline so that they provide more information about the perpetrators last week, but they did nothing,” he said.

The officer and his two companions were killed along the Cueibet-Rumbek road by local youths suspected to be from the Gok clan, who are fighting with the Agar.

Marial said another two suspects were also arrested, while Lakes caretaker governor Matur Chut Dhuol said four people had been arrested earlier in the week.

'Spirit of revenge'

Meanwhile, state security advisor Marial Amoum Malek Malek announced earlier this week that sixteen people were killed in apparent revenge attacks related to the interclan feud.

He said seven people were killed in different incidents in Rumbek Central and Rumbek North counties, while nine people, including county director of lands Maliet Aluetyh, were targeted separately.

"On the way to Maper, that ambush killed seven people--six from Rumbek North and one from Rumbek Central," he explained. "In Cueibet, the report I got is talking about nine people from both sides.”

Malek blamed the escalating insecurity in the state on the availability of guns and "the spirit of revenge."

“The main things disturbing people here in the state are proliferation of firearms and the spirit of revenge,” he said. “In any corner in Lakes State here, the spirit of revenge attack occupies the minds of the civilian population.

Dusk to dawn curfew

State authorities last weekend imposed a seven-day, dusk to dawn curfew in Rumbek town in an attempt to stop the movement of criminal groups.

Caretaker governor Dhuol also reiterated his commitment to resolve lawlessness by deploying additional forces and attempting to collect guns from the locals.

Lakes has been hit by a wave of violence since the early August murder of caretaker governor Dhuol’s brother, paramount chief Apareer Dhuol.

Later last month, South Sudan’s National Parliament voted to recommend the president remove caretaker governor Dhuol, who was appointed to his position in January 2013 by President Salva Kiir after the president ousted elected governor Governor Chol Tonj Mayai.

Related:

Lakes state lawlessness: Rumbek north accuses Cueibet of cattle raids

Lawlessness in Lakes state after chief's murder

Photo: A South Sudanese policeman walks in the outskirts of Mvolo, 75 miles from Rumbek in the Western Equatoria State, 14 January 2014 (AFP/Phil Moore)

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