One person died on Thursday afternoon and 12 were critically injured following clashes that ensued between South Sudan refugees settled in Nyumanzi refugee settlement, Nzaip Sub County, Adjumani District and the host community members.
The clashes are said to have been sparked off on Wednesday morning when an unidentified man of the Madi tribe was found dead at Nyumanzi trading centre near Nyumanzi refugee settlement.
The locals attempted to attack the refugees whom they accused of killing their colleague.
In retaliation the refugees on Thursday raided five villages of Linga, Maiciki, Ege, Jurumini and Maiaeiciki, in Ajugotti Parish and killed one person, only identified as John, looting home items and setting some houses on fire.
Those injured were admitted to Adjumani Regional Referral Hospital, according to the district head of security, Mr Peter Data, who doubles the Resident District Commissioner.
“We have been able to visit the causalities at the facility where they are being treated from.
Those who had arrows stuck in their bodies have been operated, and one person has been referred to Mulago National Referral Hospital for further management,” Mr Data told Daily Monitor on Thursday.
By the time of filing this story, the RDC said calm had returned to the area following the intervention of the army and police, as authorities commenced their investigations.
“The situation was bad. The Madi people had blocked all the roads and were checking each vehicle that leaves and enters the district.
We regret the incident that resulted into loss of life. At the moment we are engaging both refugee leaders and host community leaders at the local level so that they can get back and speak to their people on the ground,” Mr Data added.
Maj Ceaser Olweny, the UPDF fourth Division spokesperson, said the army had to reinforce police because the situation had “gone out of hands.”
“We are proposing for a dialogue between the refugees and host communities for peaceful co-existence. We shall not point fingers at each other on who started what but we want them to live peacefully.
Refugees should not engage in criminal activities when they are here.
The host communities should also desist from engaging in criminal activities,” he said.
Adjumani hosts more than 200,000 South Sudanese Refugees in 18 settlement centres across the district.
By Daily Monitor
