Governor of Yei River State David Lokonga Moses says his government is in the process of releasing approximately 23 youths who were arrested by security operatives some months ago.
Lokonga says the youths who were arrested, detained and tortured were accused of coordinating rebel activities in the state. He did not mention when they will be set free.
“We are in the process of releasing these youth. We are in contact with the state army base commander to see that investigations are finalised as soon as possible so that these youth go home without charges,” said Lokonga.
He says he has called on the public to report their lost relatives to his office so that any person who was arrested and went missing will be sought out.
He added that the release of the youths is part of the resolution put by the presidential delegation who recently visited the state on a fact-finding mission over the insecurity in the state.
Meanwhile, witnesses say the number of youths arrested since the conflict started in the state has reached into the hundreds.
“We have seen by our eyes, there were many people who were arrested, some killed and more are still missing – how comes that the governor is saying there were only 23 youth to be released? Where are the rest of the many youth?” said a witness whose relative was arrested.
He called on the government to track those many youths who are missing and release them without conditions. Recently, the youths in the area have presented a memo to the presidential delegation demanding an end to unnecessary arrest of the youth by military security agents.
“We need an end to arrests of youth in Yei and we need to see that legal procedures are followed and justice worked out,” the memo partly reads.