Central Equatoria State governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony. | File photo/Courtesy

Central Equatoria State governor, Emmanuel Adil Anthony has dispatched security forces to send away Ambororo nomads currently roaming Yei River and Lainya counties, his office said.

Adil issued the order after commissioners from the intruded areas raised concerns about the influx of foreign herdsmen from Chad and Central African Republic, who entered South Sudan through Western Equatoria State.

Yei County Commissioner Aggrey Cyrus Kanikwa said the Ambororo tribesmen with their herds have been in the area for a week and are based in Tukuri Boma of Lasu Payam.

Mr. Cyrus added that the local population lives in fear that the presence of the nomads was likely to hinder agriculture as the area prepares for the rainy season.

His Lainya counterpart, Commissioner Emmanuel Khamis Richard, said it has been three weeks since the Ambororo herders arrived at the area and settled in Mukaya Payam. He urged intervention from the National and State governments.

The governor, meanwhile, made the directive in Yei during an emergency security meeting discussing issues of fundamental concern to communities in the western part of the state.

“Governor Adil has dispatched forces to reinforce on his gubernatorial directives on the immediate return of the Ambororo cattle herders into their respective places of origin,” Adil said as cited by the statement.

The evacuation of Ambororo nomads is said to be in anticipation of the beginning of agricultural activities in the areas.

Governor Adil is also said to have re-directed an immediate removal of illegally erected checkpoints and roadblocks in the Greater Yei area to end unlawful taxations and ease humanitarian access.

The meeting further described the general security situation of the area as relatively peaceful during and after the Eid-ul-Fitr occasion and commended the security operatives for maintaining peace.

Armed and sometimes dangerous, the nomads from the semi-arid regions of Chad and Central Africa Republic are long known to be wandering in many parts of Western Equatoria, where there have been reports of deadly skirmishes with the local populations.

In Ezo, Ibba and Tombura counties, local authorities have since reported multiple attacks on villagers by the nomads since last year.

In 2023, the Director for Legal Affairs at the National Police Service, Major General Sadik Ismail, said the issue of Ambororo attacks is “very serious” and requires national government intervention.

President Salva Kiir, in a meeting with Azande King, His Majesty Atoroba Peni, also promised to curb the attacks by foreign herders intruding from the Central African Republic and restore stability in the region.