At least eleven children abducted from Eastern Equatoria State were recovered on Thursday morning by authorities in the neighboring Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) after they tasked chiefs from Eastern Equatoria to identify them.
Several children have over the last few years been abducted by suspected Murle youth which prompted the Government of Eastern Equatoria to engage their GPAA counterparts to end abductions and return kidnapped children.
However, not all children have been recovered but the authorities in both jurisdictions promised that the search will continue across GPAA for the remaining abducted kids.
GPAA Information Minister Oleyo Akuar Nyalus said the recovered children, 5 females and 6 males, were handed over to the UN.
“This (Thursday) morning, the children who were abducted by Murle youths from the eastern side of Kapoeta have been handed over to the UN in the presence of the chiefs from GPAA and Eastern Equatoria,” he stated. “We recovered them through our chiefs because we talked to them and the youth and we also sent the police to the areas where the abducted children were staying.”
For her part, Jennifer Nabongorika, the Eastern Equatoria State Minister of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare, said the recovery of the abducted children was possible due to collaboration between her state and GPAA.
“That is why I am here on the ground and they (children) will arrive shortly and we shall receive them. This indicates that the GPAA and Eastern Equatoria administration have a good relationship,” she said. “That is why the GPAA authorities are committed to collecting the abducted children and returning them.”
“The Government of Eastern Equatoria State is always looking forward to peace and unity with neighboring states,” the minister added.
Meanwhile, Eunice Nakiru, a women’s activist in Eastern Equatoria State, lauded the GPAA leadership for their efforts in recovering the abducted children but stressed they should deploy security forces to find the rest of the kidnapped children.
“We want inter-state meetings to allow people to identify the remaining abducted children so that they are returned and reunited with their families,” she emphasized. “They should continue searching for those missing children and women who were also taken. It will be good if they can also release the abducted women so that they rejoin their families.”