Hon. John Manyuon Samuel, Jonglei State minister of information - (Photo: Courtesy).

The government of Jonglei State has denied allegations that it is paying raiders to recover children and women abducted from the Pibor Administrative Area.

The state information minister John Samuel Manyuon terms the accusations circulating mainly on social media as fake and baseless.

“It has come to our attention that unfounded reports are circulating on social media that the government of Jonglei State has been paying abductors in exchange for abductees recently recovered and handed over to Pibor,” Manyuon said.

He also said such propaganda is made by the enemies of peace who intend to deter the state government’s efforts to continue recovering the abductees.

“Those reports are fake and baseless, and circulated by enemies of peace and progress. Therefore, we are informing the general public that allegations circulating on social media are concocted by agents of those politicians who are cutting-edges of their political interest at the expense of innocent lives.”

Last week, Jonglei authorities recovered and airlifted back to Pibor, more than 60 women and children held captive by local armed raiders.

The state government said it had to negotiate the freedom of the abductees with the raiders, due to a lack of capacity to arrest and hold to account the heavily armed youth.

Following the incident, allegations went around on social media, accusing Jonglei authorities of having paid the abductors in exchange for the abductees.

But in a press release seen by Eye Radio yesterday, Jonglei information minister Samuel Manyuon dismissed the report saying no abductor received a single cent.

‘The government of Jonglei state didn’t pay any single cent to recover any abductee. We recovered such a huge number of abductees through dialogue with the ringleaders of the abductors.”

Manyuon further said the state authorities have recovered 23 more abductees that are yet to be handed over to their neighboring counterparts in Pibor.

This would bring the total of abductees recovered by Jonglei State authorities in January to 91.