Two officials who were previously working in Panyikang County of Upper Nile State have been reportedly arrested by South Sudanese SPLM-IO rebels operating in Liri Locality in Sudan’s South Kordofan State on Saturday evening.

Panyikang County Commissioner Gabriel Jago Nyawela told Radio Tamazuj that two employees had been working in the county in 2014 and that they have recently been arrested at Tongoro camp for refugees in Liri locality.

He identified the two employees as Gabriel Awuor Mujok and David Akuachi Majak. Nyawela pointed out that he talked to the Liri County Commissioner to release the two men. He said the two officials fled to Sudan when fighting broke out in the county in 2014.

He called upon the Sudanese local authorities to take responsibility for the safety of the two arrested refugees. “We don’t have any problem with the people in Liri locality, but if they allow the rebels to arrest refugees, it will be their responsibility,” he stressed.