3 Women Abducted From Pibor County Are Released Three women abducted from Pibor County set to be reunited with their relatives after their release from Ayod and Akobo Counties this week facilitated by Jonglei State Community Security Officers.24 February 2012
By Jacob Achiek Jok BOR, 24th February 2012 [Gurtong] – Three women abducted from Pibor County set to be reunited with their relatives after their release from Ayod and Akobo Counties this week facilitated by Jonglei State Community Security Officers. According to Director for community policing and small arms control Mr. Aguti Adut Aguti, one woman was abducted in 2009 while the other two women with their children were taken from Pibor County in January this year. The State Minister for Social Development and Social Welfare Mr. Ogato Cham said that the 3 women with their 2 children were allegedly abducted from Pibor County in Jonglei State in an offensive by Lou Nuer against the Murle between December last year and January 2012. Cham revealed that they were released and are now under police custody in Bor. They will be flown back to Pibor next week by a UNMISS flight to reunite with their relatives. Their release was secured by security agents after discussions with authorities from Akobo and Ayod to release the women in peace. “Two of the women and their children were abducted in January 2012 during the Luo Nuer’s revenge attacks against the Murle. The third woman released had been kidnapped in 2009, according to officials and victims accounts,” the Director for community security and small arms Mr. Aguti Adut Aguti said. Adut who described how they identified the women also promised that, “we are flying to Pibor next week to carryout a survey there as well and if we get some children and women who are not of Murle origin, we shall take them to their relatives.” One of the demands that the Luo Nuer made when they attacked Pibor County, the home of the Murle community, was that the group should return kidnapped women and children from previous raids. The five are just a fraction of hundreds of women and children abducted in tribal conflicts in Jonglei State, which suffers from chronic underdevelopment and lack of infrastructure. The Lou Nuer, Murle and Dinka Bor often engage in cattle rustling in Jonglei State but the situation has been aggravated by weapons leftover during the Sudanese civil war, which lasted two decades until a 2005 peace deal. The Luo Nuer offensive and the Murle counter attacks over the New Year’s Eve displaced over 120,000 people. Mrs. Sira John who narrated how she was abducted from Pibor on 1 January 2012 with her boy said she learnt a lesson to tell to her relatives in Pibor. “God helped me and I am going to ask my people in Pibor County to release children belonging to other tribes,” Sira narrated as she tried to hold back tears. Posted in: Home -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
