Chiefs call for calm in wake of violent riots

The South Sudan Council of Chiefs has called on South Sudanese to shun revenge attacks against their Sudanese counterparts, after violent attacks were reported on Sudanese since Thursday, last week in various parts of the country.
Chief Angui Deng Macham, President of South Sudan Council of chiefs (2nd L) during the meeting with fellow members.

By Simon Deng

The South Sudan Council of Chiefs has called on South Sudanese to shun revenge attacks against their Sudanese counterparts, after violent attacks were reported on Sudanese since Thursday, last week in various parts of the country.

 “Sudanese have come here for the business opportunities, yet some of them have run away from the war in their country. So we ask our fellow South Sudanese to better behave than those who did wrong to our brothers and sisters in Sudan,” said Angui Deng Macham, the President of the South Sudan Council of Chiefs in an interview with The Dawn on Sunday.

Macham said he strongly condemns the killing of innocent South Sudanese which occurred on January 11, 2025 in Wad Madani, Al Jazira State in Sudan, adding that such inhumane and heinous crimes must not be replicated by South Sudanese.

He said the Council of Chiefs is asking all South Sudanese at home and abroad to stand together in solidarity with the Transitional Government of National Unity, which has also called for calm.

“We as South Sudanese, we do not have a culture of beheading, slaughtering people. It is not part of our culture. Let us preserve our rightful culture and norms because we believe in humanity not the other way around,” said Macham.

“We are a culture who believes in hospitality, humanity, and human rights and dignity. We do treat our guests special. So we urge all the South Sudanese not to retaliate against the Sudanese who immigrated here in our land,” he added.

Koko Martin Odi, a chief from Eastern Equatoria State, urged South Sudanese to heed to President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s call for restraint, adding that Sudanese refugees who fled the war in their home country should be offered protection at this moment.

  “What happened in Sudan is painful but we still have people in Sudan, we have people sharing border. We have Sudanese residing and others doing their business in South Sudan, so we need to maintain peaceful coexistence,” said Odi.

Peter Mading, a chief from Lakes State stressed the need to coexist peacefully with Sudanese and he also asked all South Sudanese to stay calm as the two governments work to investigate the killings in Wad Madani.

 “We cannot encourage war between the two countries, we are brothers. Let us not beat our neighbors and loot their properties, this is not a solution,” said Mading.

John Makuach Diang, a chief from Uror County of Jonglei State said that South Sudanese should give their government time to sort out the incident in Wad Madani.

 “We consider Sudan and South Sudan as sisterly countries, we have Sudanese and other nationals here and their protection is in our hands, let us not touch foreigners for any reason,” said Diang.

The riots which left 12 people killed across the country were sparked by the killings of South Sudanese nationals on January 11, 2025, by Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers after they recaptured Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazirah State from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The soldiers were captured on camera executing unarmed civilians sparking anger among South Sudanese, after the various video clips depicting the killings spread on social media.

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