About 12 youths were arrested by security agents in Wau town in South Sudan’s Western Bahr al Ghazal State on Sunday. Local sources suggested that they were accused of trying to join rebels in the state, but an official denied any recent political arrests.
Taban Angelo, Minister of Local Government has denied any political or security related arrests of youths in the state. In an interview with Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Angelo stated that nobody was arrested by the authorities during the past two days.“I can say there is no any arrest because it requires legal procedures,” he said.
However, he said that night patrols in the town may arrest whoever is found roaming the streets at night. He added that those. people are usually referred for investigations and then released on the following day in order to protect property of citizens
“You can be arrested unless under the night patrol law, anybody found around 11:00 pm, he would be asked, where are you going, he can be investigated and then released, so it is not a political arrest,” he said.
Separately, local authorities in Wau County have recently confirmed that SPLA soldiers were responsible for the killing of two people in Farajallah area on Saturday but they said the two men were killed for being rebels.