Upper Nile governor James Odhok Oyai. October 27, 2023. (Lou Nelson/Eye Radio).

Upper Nile Governor James Odhok Oyai has urged the state citizens to refrain from spreading rumors and hate speech online about the recent inter-communal violence that rocked the capital Malakal.

Governor Odhok made the remarks in Juba on Sunday after the state police chief said calm has returned to Malakal town after three days of tension and deadly violence that threatened peace in the capital Malakal.

Police Commissioner, General Chol Atem said the violence, which first started in Fashoda County before escalating to Malakal, has claimed ten lives, wounded several others and displaced hundreds of civilians.

Speaking at a wedding ceremony, Mr. Odhok said Malakal is now safe following the heavy deployment of force, who are hunting down criminals behind the conflict.

He appealed to social media users to desist from rumors and seek truthful information from the authorities.

“The city is very safe There is nothing. The markets are open, and people are returning to their homes,” he said.

“But the important thing that I would like to say is that there are some of our sons who are spreading rumors on social media. These rumors must stop immediately.”

He said the focus of the state government is to avert the return of Upper Nile to square one and encourage the displaced persons to return to their homes.

“We want to reach to the facts because the truth will lead us forward. Our slogan in Malakal is that we do not want to return the city to square one. We want our people in the UNMISS protection site to go out to their homes.”

The state is recovering from a horrific subnational violence in late 2022 in which a UN Report found that nearly 600 civilians were killed amid gross human rights abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law by armed groups.

A civil society activist in the state said the renewed violence undermines peace-building efforts, and risks returning the region to widespread violence.

James Lwong said he believes that the violence has quashed all the efforts by peacebuilding partners to convince the IDPs to return to their homes in Malakal.

On Friday, the UN Mission in South Sudan expressed deep concern about the outbreak of violence in Malakal.

Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, warned that such violence can cause lasting harm to communities and also prevents the UN from continuing its protection and peacebuilding work.

UNMISS urged relevant authorities to maintain stability, while calling on fighting parties to show restraint and use dialogue to resolve outstanding issues peacefully.