New bridge at Jur River constructed by Chinese government - Courtesy

A national lawmaker is calling for the release of a Luo youth leader who was arrested last week after petitioning Western Bahr el Ghazal state parliament over the alleged renaming of the Jur River Bridge.

On October 5, 2023, Luo Youth Association’s Chairperson said his deputy Santino Madut was arrested on the orders of state assembly speaker Mohamed Abakar Mohameden.

Gabriel Dal said Mr. Madut and other youths were accused of allegedly attacking the Speaker’s residence.

Dal revealed that Madut was detained at the National Security premises in Wau town.

Commenting on the incident, national lawmaker Juma Zachariah Deng described the arrest as unlawful.

“I am here calling on the authority and state government to release a youth leader following their petition to the state parliament over the renaming of Jur River bridge, arresting the youth leader was illegal,’ he said.

Zachariah claimed in the interview on Monday that he learnt the Speaker called Madut to his house when he ordered the police to arrest him.

He further called on the Western Bahr el Ghazal state government to respect the will of the people of Jur.

“The information that I got is that the speaker is the one who called him to come in his house and he was asking to come alone without his group, and at the time when he arrived the speaker told the police that this is the one who burnt the tukul.”

Constructed by the Chinese, the new bridge is expected to be officially inaugurated by the end of this year.
When contacted, Western Bahr El Ghazal state parliament speaker Mohamed Abakar Mohameden told Eye Radio he would get back after the parliamentary sitting today.