Mr. Saber Abu Sam, a 42-year-old Sudanese trader who was sentenced to death during the court ruling in Aweil on 30th May 2022 - Courtesy

The Northern Bahr el Ghazal government has confirmed that Sudanese national Saber Abu Sam, who was convicted to death for raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in Aweil, is still inside Wau Prison following rumors that the child predator escaped.

On May 1, 2022, Abu Sam was found guilty in the rape, murder, and dumping of toddler Abuk Lual in a pit latrine—a gruesome crime that sparked condemnations and whose trial was closely monitored across the country.

Aweil High Court then convicted the 42-year-old trader to death by hanging and his associate, Omer Mohamed Omer, to five years in jail for harboring the convict.

The sentences were upheld by an appeals court in September 2022, and the convicts were transferred to Wau Central Prison, a maximum security facility. The second associate, Omer Mohamed, was acquitted on charges of trying to conceal the crimes.

However, on September 6, 2024, NBGs Governor Simon Ober Mawut directed a delegation led by the state security advisor Joseph Akok to visit Wau Prison to verify the presence of convict Abu Sam, according to a statement from his office.

“This action followed widespread rumors that Saber Abu Sam, a Sudanese trader convicted to death by hanging for molesting and murdering a five-year-old…had escaped,” the statement said.

The delegation, which met Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Sarah Cleto Hassan Rial, was escorted to Wau Central Prison, where they confirmed the presence of Saber Abu Sam in Wau Prison and held a direct conversation with him, Ober’s office said.

The statement argued that pictures of the convict would have been taken and published as evidence of his presence there, if not for the fact that the laws governing treatment of prisoners prohibit the taking of photographs of individuals on death row.

“The officer emphasized that all prisoners, including those on death row, must be treated with dignity and shielded from unnecessary public exposure,” it further stated.

The clarification added that WBGs Governor Sarah Cleto and the Wau Central Prison administration reaffirmed that Saber Abu Sam will remain in custody until the country’s legal processes are fully completed.