A woman and her six-months-old baby who were abducted when armed youth from Jonglei State invaded parts of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) last December were on Friday rescued from their captors during a recovery mission in Jonglei State’s Nyirol County, authorities said.
James Bol Makuey, the Nyirol County commissioner, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that the abductees have since been in his custody awaiting transportation to Pibor to be reunited with their loved ones.
“We were given orders to recover abductees brought by our youth when they went to Pibor in December last year. Based on that, we recovered a woman with her six-month-old baby,” he said. This woman also said she has a 2-year-old who we are trying to recover from Uror. I already reported to our partners for the return of these abductees to Pibor.”
Commissioner Makuey however called on GPAA authorities to stop repeated attacks by their youth to avoid a flare-up of intercommunal violence.
On his part, Brigadier John Deng, the county police inspector, said the abductees were recovered in an ongoing recovery exercise.
“The abductees are in the custody of the commissioner,” he said. “They were recovered from Nyabor Payam and arrangements are being made to transport them to Pibor.”
Meanwhile, Abraham Kelang, the GPAA information minister, lauded the Nyirol authorities’ move and said that they are committed to peace.
“We are still in peace with our Lou Nuer neighbors. We applaud their move and we will wait to receive these abductees,” he said. “Our youth in their bushes are just criminals and we asked our chiefs and commissioners to arrest them if they return.”
“We urge the Lou Nuer youth to fight these criminals off and help us arrest them because they are outcasts,” Kelang added.