Juol Nhomngek Daniel, a former SPLM-IO Member of Parliament, says Mr. Achieng Maboto was taken into custody shortly after arriving for the session and was immediately driven toward the Jamus Military Detention Centre in Giada.
The motive behind the arrest remains unknown, but Nhomngek suggested that Maboto’s political identity may have played a role. Maboto, a native of Yirol West County in Lakes State, belongs to the SPLM-IO, a group that Lakes State authorities have openly rejected.
He claimed that since the political unrest that began in March 2025, authorities in the state have allegedly maintained that SPLM-IO members are unwelcome, a stance that has reportedly resulted in a series of targeted arrests.
According to the former SPLM-IO lawmaker, several of its members and leaders have been detained in recent months, with some coerced to renounce the movement as a condition for their release. Those who refused to resign, even under detention, are said to remain incommunicado in various detention facilities across the state.
Nhomngek condemned the arrest of peaceful party members, describing such actions as unlawful and a violation of constitutional rights. He warned that arbitrary arrests without due process risk pushing citizens toward violence. He further called on the government and security agencies to uphold the law and refrain from becoming “the first lawbreakers.”
The arrest of Maboto adds to a pattern of similar incidents targeting SPLM-IO members around Freedom Hall, where the trial of Riek Machar’s allies has been drawing intense political scrutiny.
Earlier in the week, Lam John Nei, a senior member of the SPLM-IO National Youth League and chairperson of its Constitutional Affairs Committee, was arrested during the 24th session of the same trial.
The trend stretches back to October, when Gattiek Gatkuoth Wichar, the SPLM-IO Youth League spokesperson, revealed that Alfred Gatmai, the movement’s information secretary for Mayom County caucus in Juba, had been detained by National Security Service officers after leaving the courtroom at the same venue.
These incidents have heightened concerns within the opposition, which fears that the arrests are part of a broader effort to pressure SPLM-IO members during a politically charged judicial process.
