By Kei Emmanuel
The Administrator of Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Gola Boyoi, has refuted allegations made by Pigi County Commissioner, Sulieman Deng, regarding the involvement of armed youth Murle in the abduction of six children and their mother last week.
Boyoi stated that Greater Pibor does not share a border with Pigi County in Jonglei State, making it impossible for the people from Pibor to be responsible for the recent abductions.
While acknowledging that child abduction is a prevalent issue in the Greater Jonglei area, Boyoi noted that over 300 children have been abducted from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area by an unidentified group of people.
“People from Pibor can’t reach Pigi County easily,” Boyoi stated. “The issue of women and child abduction is a common practice among the communities in Greater Jonglei. The Lou Nuer and Bor people are known to engage in this, so the blame should not be placed solely on the Murle communities,” he added.
Last week, the Pigi County Commissioner accused Murle’s armed militia of abducting one woman and four of her children.
A similar incident occurred two months ago when a woman and her children were abducted but later rescued at the border between Lou Nuer and Bor.
The Pigi County Commissioner clarified that areas bordering his administrative unit are Ayod, Nyirol, and Fangak from Upper Nile State, not Greater Pibor.
But both leaders expressed uncertainty about the exact identity of the abductors within Greater Jonglei.
The Commissioner of Pigi County appealed to the abductors to release the abducted children and mothers to prevent further violence and attacks on local communities.
He recounted that the abductors were often armed and would resort to raiding cattle herds if they failed to abduct people.