A paramount chief in Eastern Equatoria state’s Torit County has accused Buya youth of killing a 30-year-old man in Ilieu Village on Wednesday.

The killers are said to have attacked and killed 30-year-old Agama Ohitai who was grazing his cattle in Ilieu village, Hiyalla Payam before they were repulsed by local home guards, the Monyiemiji.

The Hiyalla Payam paramount chief, Galileo Ohide, accused Buya youth of the killing of Ohitai and later hacking his body with machetes. He said the killers followed the main road after the murder and passed through Tuhubak village which made the locals suspect the youth from the Buya area to be behind the incident.

“This issue happened yesterday (Wednesday) at about 2 pm. These people came and found this boy guarding his cattle and he had no gun and so they shot him and he fell. They took a machete and hacked his body,” Paramount chief Ohide explained. “The people who were near there heard the gunshot and rushed there. These people wanted to drive the cattle but they left and ran when people intervened.”

He added: “The Monyiemiji ran after them up to the forest, but when it became dark the Monyiemiji came back. We suspect the Buya according to the statement of the local chief and the Monyiemiji who ran after them. I have just finished communicating with them.” 

The Paramount Chief cautioned the youth of Ilieu against revenge killings and urged them to allow the relevant authorities to address the matter amicably.

“My advice, like I said to the Chief and the Monyiemiji, is that we do not know who did this, so do not take revenge because it is not good. When we go to any suspected village to attack them, it is not good. As a chief I do not agree with that because that will lead us in the wrong direction,” Ohide said.

The Ilieu village chief, Aurelio Jamus, confirmed the incident and said the attacker ran away when the locals went to the scene.

“There was someone killed while he was grazing his cattle. The criminals attacked and shot him dead. There were cows made up of two kraals grazing near him and when the owners heard the shooting,” Chief Jamus said. “They ran to check what happened and they found the man dead. When the attacker saw the villagers responding to the gunshots, they ran away and left the animals.” 

For his part, the Budi County youth leader, Augustino Lopeyok, when contacted to comment on the incident said he had no information regarding the killing of a man by youth suspected to be from his county.

“I did not come across that information. Maybe I need to confirm from Camp-15 because I am in Chukudum and if it happened yesterday (Wednesday), then we have not yet gotten the information,” Lopeyok said. 

The Ilieu and Buya communities have severally accused each other of cattle raids in the past.