A mother and her two children who were abducted together with 6 other people in Mayom County in Unity State last month were over the weekend handed over by Warrap State authorities to a Unity State official in Juba.
On 2 February, armed youth suspected to be from Tonj North County in Warrap State abducted nine people, including a woman and her two children, from the Naam River while they were in a canoe collecting water lilies for food.
Mayom County Commissioner John Bol Magak told Radio Tamazuj that he received the mother and her eight months old boy and 14-year-old daughter from the Warrap State officials on 4 March at the Juba International Airport.
He said the other six abductees including 4 school boys were killed by the armed youth who held them hostage since the beginning of last month.
“We have been searching for the abductees and got in touch with the authorities in Warrap State because we heard that the mother and her two children were alive. On Saturday, we received them at JIA and they are now with me,” Commissioner Bol said. “I want to urge the authorities in Warrap to apprehend the criminals otherwise these random killings and abductions will not stop.”
“We need to hold perpetrators accountable for the crimes they have committed,” he added.
The commissioner revealed that this is the fifth incident.
Meanwhile, William Wol Mayom, the Unity State information minister, confirmed that the former abductees were handed over after being recovered by local authorities in Tonj North County in Warrap State.
“The Warrap State government is working hard to arrest those criminals,” he said. “We gave a directive to Tonj North County authorities to arrest those armed criminals who are creating insecurity across the border between Unity State and Warrap State.”
Minister Wol further said the recovery and return of the former abductees have improved relations between the two states.