Army detaining SPLA-IO soldier in Wau – commander

JUBA – South Sudan People’s Defense Forces in the country’s Western Bahr el Ghazal state’s capital Wau is detaining an opposition soldier from the SPLA-IO led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny over unclear reasons, according to a commander.

Colonel Henry Makuar of the SPLA-IO’s Fourth Brigade said Private Andrea Bol was going to his farm when members of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces arrested him, taking over his motorcycle and his AK47 gun.

Eye Radio which is the first to report the incident did not state when the incident took place.

When contacted, the army spokesman at Bilpam Brigadier-General Santo Domic Chol said he is no aware of the incident and said the opposition forces should not use the media to raise such incident saying it should have been raised to higher command in the opposition for resolution.

“I do think there is a need from him to use media as a platform of raising such a concern. The SPLA-IO should report the case to their command unit so that it is resolved at that level,” General Santo Domic said, adding that he has “not received any information” about the incident.

This is not the first incident of its kind. In 2020, a senior South Sudan main armed opposition commander who was going to Wau ahead of the arrival of the then newly-appointed governor Sarah Cleto was disarmed, then detained.

He was later on taken to Tonj where he was finally released after months in jail.