A pastor in a South Sudanese town near the Congolese border was abducted by non-uniformed and unidentified men last Saturday, according to multiple sources.
Benjamin Taban, who is working for Christian Outreach Ministries, was confronted by the unidentified men at his residence in Morobo on Saturday at about 11:00 a.m.
A source told Radio Tamazuj that the men first pretended to be looking for a house to rent, then after speaking to Benjamin briefly they made him to get into a vehicle and drove off.
Two sources said the same group or another related group of men came to the house shortly thereafter and conducted a search of the pastor’s house.
Joyce Tabu, the wife of Pastor Benjamin Taban, said that she returned home from working in Kanyare Worship Centre on Saturday to find some unknown men at her home and her husband gone.
“I was called in my work place and I found two people sitting outside my house. I thought they were some visitors to my husband,” she said.
She said they then asked her to open her house and then entered into the house by force. After entering the house they claimed that they found two guns inside the house. Tabu said they then took photographs of her with the guns laid on her bed.
Benjamin is an evangelist, according to his wife Tabu.
One source said Benjamin was taken in a vehicle in the direction of Yei, which is on the road to Juba. Another source in Morobo said the gunmen had actually come from Juba, the headquarters of the SPLA-Juba faction.
The gunmen did not identify themselves. When the administration of Christian Outreach Ministries tried to question them as to their identify they allegedly pulled out a pistol and threatened to shoot.
Morobo County Commissioner Moses Simon Soro declined to comment. “I don’t want to be circulating rumours. I’m not aware of this and any security issue I’m not free to comment. This is still under investigation,” he said.
The commissioner was reportedly not present in Morobo when the incident took place.
Radio Tamazuj is also informed that Benjamin Taban may be a relative of the SPLM-IO deputy chairman Alfred Lado Gore, who hails from Central Equatoria State.
Local police in Morobo have been notified of the abduction.
File photo: Morobo