Pibor receives seven children, mother abducted from Ayod County

Authorities in Pibor Administrative Area have received seven children and a mother who were abducted by the suspected criminals from Ayod County of Jonglei State.

The authorities revealed that six children, including their mother, were brought from Ororo Village and one other child came from Ywayi Village of Ayod County.

The Minister of Information and Communication of Pibor Administrative Area, Jay Adangor, said the rescued victims were in the government compound waiting to reunite with their family members.

“They are still in the compound because there is an organisation taking care of them. Whenever they have been received, they [children] are [put] under the care of the government until their parents arrive from the areas where they were abducted from…they will be given officially to their parents,” Jay told The City Review on a telephone interview yesterday.

“There are a number of children who have been abducted and are still in different areas where [they were] taken in the neighbouring states.  We cannot confirm the figure unless the children have been identified,” he added.

Jay stressed that the government of the Pibor Administrative Area is working to ensure that all the abducted children are identified and returned to their rightful parents.

“As I speak, there is already some youth that has gone out for preaching of peace. There are also government officials who are tracing children who were taken out of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area,” he said.

Jay said the team of government officials was working closely with the authorities of Jonglei State, especially in the northern side of Likwngole County, where several children were abducted.

“The work is going on because you don’t know who has the child and who doesn’t. You need to have the information and also you need to have the people on the ground that will inform you,” he said.

Last month, the communities of Jonglei State and Greater Pibor Administrative Area held a three-day conference and agreed to recommit to the inter-state peace accord and return all the abducted persons. They also agreed on blood compensation as well as punishing the perpetrators.

They were also to establish committees on tracing abductees and mechanisms of returning them. In addition, there were plans of engaging the youth in alternative income-generating activities.

As part of their efforts to facilitate tracing and returns of abducted people, each county presented a plan to identify abductees within their communities so that they are mobilised for reunification with their communities of origin.

Part of these plans includes the formation of community committees to spearhead tracing. Each county will have committees at the county, Payam, boma, and village levels.