The Government of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) said they received six former abductees from their Jonglei State counterparts on Wednesday and that arrangements are underway to have them reunited with their families.
The former abductees aged 6 to 14 include two females and they were kidnapped from their parents in 2020 following the invasion of the GPAA by armed youth from Jonglei State.
GPAA Information Minister Oleyo Akwer Nyalus told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday evening that the children were in good health and that all the necessary paperwork was being processed to hand them to their families.
“On Wednesday, we received a 14-year-old boy from Walgak and five other children aged 6 to 9 from Bor. These children are now under the custody of the GPAA Ministry of Gender Child and Social Welfare. They are in good health and we are just making the necessary arrangements to have them handed over to their families,” he said. “We appreciated our Jonglei State counterparts for handing over more abductees to us in the space of weeks. This is a good peace gesture that we want for peace to be realized in Jonglei State and GPAA.
In recent weeks, the restive Jonglei State and the GPAA have witnessed a series of recovery and handover of former abductees held captive in each other’s territory for years, a move that is likely to reduce animosity between the two communities.
Child abduction is an age-long practice among communities in Jonglei State and GPAA, often carried out with impunity and accompanied by killings and cattle rustling.