S. Sudan army to release abducted children: official

March 12, 2014 (JUBA) – South Sudan army on Thursday vowed to release within days the 89 children allegedly abducted in Upper Nile state by a militia commander linked to government.

James Aguer, the chairperson for the military committee for eradication of abduction of women and children said Johnson Oliny, who allegedly carried out the forceful recruitment of children accepted inspection of his forces.

“They accepted our call to go and see if there are children among them and if they are less than 18 years,” Aguer told reporters in the capital, Juba.

“They will hand them to us and we will take them to their families in Wau Shulluk,” he added.

The children were kidnapped and forcibly recruited in to the armed forces last month, United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF) reported.

However, the UN agency also hinted that numbers of children abducted could be in the hundreds and that some could be as young as 12 years of age.

The government has been under intense pressure especially after the head of UN mission in the country, Ellen Magrette Loej and US charges d’affaires Charles Twining visited the Upper Nile state capital earlier this week and urged the government to ensure the children were freed.

But Aguer told reporters that all efforts were being put into freeing the children.

“And for those whose ages are more than 18 years, they will choose whether they want to continue or to go back to their homes,” he said.

(ST)