A meeting was held two days ago in Itang regarding the ongoing violence between the Nuer and the Anyuak. The root cause of the resurgence of violence is quite obvious.

The Anyuak started killing Nuer while they were in some sort of truce with them. So many Nuers were killed at night times while they were asleep.  This is especially true in the case for Itang after a quasi peace was made between the Nuer and Anyuak.

But as  the Anyuak felt their killing of the Nuer is justified by the state since no arrests are being made, the situation got worse and to some extent is out of control.

Late last week, a group of bandits from Anyuak community sneaked in to Makot Kebele of Itang  and rustled cattle while owners were asleep. At dawn, when the owners wake up, they realised that their cattle were gone. The owners engaged in a speedy persuit following cattle foot prints on the grasses. The cattle and the thieves were intercepted middway before they reached the destination they were taken to.

That resulted in a gun fight between the thieves and cattle owners. The angry cattle owners overwhelmed the thieves and as the thieves realised they were about to loose their ill earned gains, they shot dead three cows for no other reason than to cause suffering on the Nuer in material lost and human lost.

President Omot met with the locals and told them that in situations like that, notify the authorities. With hindsight of the law and the Gambella police Force as well as the military, that would have been ideal and a better way to handle such things.

But we believe locals forgot to ask important questions to the President. Which authority was the President talking about? For far too long, members of the Nuer community have been killed with the state resources provided by the President himself and the former Police Commissioner, Ato Senay Okwor.

Many Nuer police officers in the Police Department saw  weapons taken out from the weapon store to arm the Anyuak thugs. Any Nuer Police officer who questioned why the weapons were being moved and given to thugs lost their jobs. Some were even put to jail for speaking up the truth and served times in jail.

In addition, when the Ethiopian Defense Force tried to get help from the President in identifying those who masscred Nuer in Bereseb and in the public bues, such as the July killing of 5 passnegers in a buss near Abol, the President said the killers are rebels and so he does not know where they are.

With Omot’s recent meeting with the locals telling them to call authorities, how would authorities find them when in fact the military wanted justice served but cannot be done without the apprehension of the criminals which he said he does not know their whereabouts.

These theieves are identical with the killers who came from 03 and 05 Kebele. These killers are allowed to roam freely in Gambella by the president because they are given vehicles and weapons to attack Nuer. Did the President not know he was causing a conflict of interest to himself when he said ‘call the authorities?’

Gambella issue is quite simple. A good leader can finish this problem in one week given the size of the population. But President Omot is either a coawrd to Law breakers or sympathises to law breakers who kill Nuer. For that no one  would enjoy real peace under President Omot’s relation and his Anyuak cohorts who put ethnic card on every decision they make.

In November last year, a Nuer Police Officer was killed in Itang by an Anyuak thug. The people of Itang at the time did a remarkable job.

They located the killer and handed him over to the authorities. Had Omot not released that person, Itang should have been peaceful now if that killer was kept in jail. But because he was released, it sent a signal to other Anyuak killers that it is okay to kill Nuer even when there is this relative peace or truce.

It did not take long before the Anyuak struck again killing an old man in Ngote, near Itang, followed by the killing of another Nuer in the river bank of Openo in Makhot. No arrest was made for any of the murders. Then public bus was sprayed with bullets where so many people were wouned followed by the killing of police officer again in Abol while escorting a patient to Gambella Hospital.

On all those killings, what did the president’s authority do to convince people that Omot’s government is a government for all?

In reality, it is a government for the Anyuak and President Omot is showing a very dangerous precedence for the Gambella public. Had there been arrests made on the Anyuak side on the murder in Itang, people would not have taken matters to their own hands such as the death we heard of a very good man in Thaarpaam where about 5 Nuer were arrested all of which had no connection to the killings.

The responsibility for these deaths solely lies on Omot. He cultivated this field? When Nuer were repeatedly killed in bereseb, Omot was fine and happy. He was not able to help the Ethiopian Military in ideniifying the killers. For far too long, that went on without stopping until families of those killed in Bereseb attacked the Anyuak communities around Itang resulting to the death of some people. Omot was to blame for that. He is not fit as a leader as he turned Gambella into barbaric state. You kill my family, I kill your family.

How would that make us look? That does not make anyone happy because so many Anyuak I grew up with are not eveil. The same with so many Nuers Anyuak grew up with are not evil either. Omot has the duty as a leader to arrrest evil ones from both side. Article 15 of the Ethiopian consititution probides right to life for every Ethiopian. Whoever takes someone else’s life must be dealt with in the rule of law. But Omot i seeing Nuer lives unimportant.

But because when they kill Nuer, it is okay and when the Anyuak is killed, about 4 or 5 Nuers get arrested to which none of the accused relates to the murders, it makes Gambella become a barbaric state.

Now many Nuer have lost faith with Omot and his regime. Gambella has been a state where jungle laws are applied. To what extent when this barbarism stops in the region is only President Omot to answer. If Anyuak can kill people in a church such as what they did in Wanthoa, if they can kill people in ambulance such as what they did in Abol, certainly this people can kill Nuer even when they are with the Prime Minister.

These People have no regard to the rule of law nor words of God. President Omot is either delusional to himself for saying call the authorities or is using the Anyuak Phrase on Nuer that says  “Nuer A bol”  if he really believes he would be taken for his words.These thugs will be met with fire and now the only solution for them is for the Nuer to stop sleeping in all corners adjacent to Anyuak neighbourhood throughout Gambella. They must not attack Anyuak as there are so many innocent Anyuaks who do not share these evil dreams.

But they will destroy any Anyuak murderer that comes to Nuer house to kill Nuer. In the Ethiopian consititution, it is okay to refuse to be killed. So self defence is allowed as long as you defence yourself in the boundary of your front yard, finish them all. For anyone that comes to take Nuer livilihood, he must meet the same fate as well. Cattles are a Nuer livelihood. You take them, you kill Nuer. So you must be destroyed before you take them such as whathappened to those thieves who attempted to take them.