Vice-president Hussein denies ‘selling’ Kiir Adem to Sudan, threatens to sue journalists

JUBA – South Sudan vice-president for service delivery, Hussein Abdelbaggi, has denied accusations by some social media users that he had sold Northern Bahr el Ghazal state’s Kiir Adem – also known as Mile 14 – to neighboring Sudan following his recent trip to Khartoum in which he met Sudanese leaders over cross-border trade.

Last month, Hussein visited Sudan in a  trip that lasted for almost two weeks. While in Khartoum, Miseriya tribesmen from Sudan’s Southern Darfur state attacked a village in the country’s Abyei and part of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state angering some social media users sparking rumors that he had sold Kiir Adem to Sudan.

Earlier this months, villagers in Kiir Adem said they have seen members of the Sudanese army entering the area with South Sudanese troops having left the area a week earlier. Some also said they have left to live in Aweil, the capital of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, our of fears of attacks by Sudanese nomads who usually bring their cattle for grazing south.

In a statement on Friday, Hussein’s office denied the rumors of selling Kiir Adem to Sudan, saying among the agendas of his trip to Sudan was “To resolve any security bottlenecks hindering stability and harmony between the two country’s borders.”

The vice-president’s office further warned media outlets and journalists to refrain from what he said are baseless information threatening to take legal actions against those continuing the Mile-14 controversy.

“The office of the Vice-President therefore cautions all the social media users to desist from causing confusion and disinformation as this could attract uncalled unrest among the civil population,” he said.

“Should this practice continue, the Office of the Vice-President will opt legal redress to avoid character assassination attempt and to hold social media agents of confusion and disinformation,” he added.