SPLM members arrested by security in Bor over calls to remove Antipas Nyok

JUBA – At least two members of the so-called Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Senior Representatives in Jonglei state have been arrested by the National Security Service in the state capital Bor.

This comes days after calls intensified for removal of Jonglei state deputy governor Antipas Nyok as the chairman of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the state over alleged failure to unite the party members there.

“These two people arrested are among the 17 people who signed the petition on July 24. They were not arrested because they are members of organized forces. They have been active in politics for 15 years. Why would they be arrested today?” Gabriel Deng Ajak, one of the group’s representatives, said, according to Radio Tamazuj.

He accused the state party leadership of ordering the arrest.

“They were arrested on the directive of the deputy governor. Antipas Nyok has also appointed active members of the organized forces to the SPLM secretariat. So, the people they appointed are the ones involved in politics. But these two arrested people are simply expressing their opinions,” he said.

Separately, SPLM Secretary-General in Jonglei Deng Ajang Duot, denied his party’s alleged involvement in the arrest, saying the arrest was not done on political grounds.

“We are not arresting anybody and we have not been arresting anybody. What happened there are members of organized forces who claimed to be politicians? They are being questioned by their unit so as to when they became politicians. So, what is happening is between those two individuals and their units, not SPLM,” he said.