BENTIU – The Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA IO) has accused the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) of arresting two of its officers in Mayom County of South Sudan’s Unity State.
Major Yai Pazaale, the SPLA-IO Sector Two spokesperson, confirmed on Wednesday that two SPLA-IO officers were allegedly detained by SSPDF personnel earlier in the day. According to Pazaale, the officers had been in the county since the signing of the peace agreement and were not engaged in any hostile activities.
He said the two officers, identified as Maj. Gen. Mathok Thiep Chuoth and Col. Rop Yak Gelle Kuony had travelled to Mayom months earlier for short family visits.
“These officers were living peacefully with their families and had not violated any provision of the peace agreement,” Pazaale said, adding that their detention was unjustified.
Eyewitnesses in Mayom told local media that the officers were detained at around 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The witnesses claimed the two were taken from their homes and first brought to the police headquarters in Mayom town before being transferred to Brigade 21 military headquarters, which is reportedly under the command of Brig. Gen. Gatluak Kai Gai.
One eyewitness alleged that the officers were “picked up from their houses where they were living unconditionally with their children,” describing the operation as a forced arrest that caused fear among family members and neighbours. The eyewitness accounts further claimed that no formal charges were presented to the officers at the time of their detention.
However, Mayom County Commissioner Jackson Mut Yien strongly denied the allegations, dismissing claims that the two officers had been kidnapped or arrested. According to the commissioner, the officers were not detainees but defectors.
“It is not true that they were kidnapped or arrested,” Mut Yien said. “The two officers were among those who defected from SPLA-IO to SPLM-IG. They voluntarily declared themselves to the SPLM-IG authorities together with the commissioner of Rubkona County.”
