The Catholic Bishop of South Sudan's Yei Diocese has condemned “the killing of innocent people” in his Episcopal See earlier this month, and described the loss of lives as “shameful for us”.
On February 3, 27 people were reportedly killed in South Sudan’s Kajo-Keji County in Central Equatoria State in a violence conflict involving cattle herders and militia fighters.
In his February 12 homily at Christ the King Cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Yei, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo said, “We deeply regret the killing of innocent people in this locality and condemn these acts and other killings that happened previously.”
“It’s really shameful for us to do this to ourselves as the people of this country,” Bishop Lodiong said, and added, “The cattle headers killed innocent people for nothing, just because they were holding guns.”
The South Sudanese Catholic Bishop said that “the residents of Kajo-Keji have no issues with the cattle keepers; they should go back to their place of origin to avoid such incidents from happening.”
“You cannot kill someone because of a simple issue that can be settled in the way of dialogue,” the 52-year-old Catholic Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry last year on May 15 said.
He explained, “If the cattle are not destroying the farms they would have stayed but the animals are destroying the farms of those depending on agriculture.”
According to Reuters, the February 3 violence in Kajo-Keji County started after fighters from a rebel group killed six people from a herding community. The herders retaliated by killing 21 civilians in a nearby area,
The victims included five children and a pregnant woman, Kajo-Keji County Commissioner, Phanuel Dumo, was quoted as saying.
In his February 12 homily, Bishop Lodiong said, “South Sudan is very big; there is no need to go from place to place looking for pasture for the animals which will lead to losing innocent lives.”
He called on the warrying communities to strive “to live together in peace and harmony since they all belong to God.”
“We should live together in peace and harmony because it’s not good to take away someone’s life because of a simple issue,” Bishop Lodiong said.