The Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) Diocese in Western Bahr el-Ghazal State has strongly condemned the Friday arrest and torture of its pastors by the SPLA-IO forces in Jur River County of Wath-Lelo Payam.
Addressing the media at the ECS compound in Wau on Saturday, the Archdeacon of Kuajiena, the Rev Arkangelo Unango, said 17 pastors who were on a mission in Wath-Lelo and the nearby areas were brutality tortured by the commander of the SPLA-IO forces.
Unango said the Wath-Lelo ECS has been suffering in the hands of the opposition forces and that some of the churches had been closed down by the army.
“Am here to present to the public that we need intervention, some churches in our area are suffering in the hands of the SPLA -IO soldiers. Many of our preachers sent out have been tortured and were still nursing wounds,” said Unago.
He said 29 churches had been closed down on the orders of the local army commander, and called on both the state and the army authorities to address the matter.
“We are urging the authorities to look into this problem because we are there to preach the gospel of Christ to the people, so that they change their lives as said in the Bible,” he said.
Unango said the attacks on the ECS in the area had recurred since 2018.
Pastor Andrea Akuar said they were attacked by the opposition military commander, Maj Gen Tawal Tawal, beaten up then taken to the barrack where they were subjected to more torture.
Akuar called on the opposition forces to respect the church, saying they were only doing their work for the people.
The SPLA-IO forces in Wath-Lelo could not be reached for comments due to lack of network connectivity.