Civil society groups are calling upon the national government to help find a Journalist who disappeared in Juba recently.

Journalist Afendy Joseph went missing on the 30th of December 2015.

Until his disappearance, the 27-year old was a reporter for Al-Thabir Arabic daily newspaper which the national security allegedly closed down on the 22nd of December 2015.

“The family doesn’t know where his whereabouts,” said Edmond Yakani, executive director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization.

Mr Yakani believes that the reporter is being held by security. However, he could not explain why.

“We’re appealing to state authorities to help the family of Joseph Afendy know where he is,” he added.

South Sudan is one of the world’s most deadly countries for journalists, according to a press freedom advocacy group.

In its annual analysis, the Committee to Protect Journalists says of 69 journalists killed in 2015, 5 were South Sudanese.

In January 2015, unknown gunmen ambushed an official convoy in the former Western Bahr al Ghazal state, resulting in the death of five journalists traveling with a county official.