CEPO condemns kidnapping of aid worker in Malakal
Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) on Sunday condemned the kidnapping of a humanitarian worker from Malakal Protection of Civilians site by Agwelek militia.
Emmanuel Oboyi, a nutrition monitoring officer with International Medical Corps (IMC) was picked up Agwelek militia and taken to Wau shilluk.
”That is a violation of international humanitarian law, with due respect we appeal to Johnson Olony the commander of Agwelek forces to release Emmanuel oboyi to perform his humanitarian assistance to our vulnerable population,” Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director for CEPO said in an interview in Juba.
Yakani said the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) should intervene to investigate the matter.
“CTSAMVM should urgently respond by investigating the kidnaping of a humanitarian worker in Malakal PoC by Agwelek forces, this action tells us that the PoC is no longer a safe location for humanitarian workers and this is very unfortunate,” he said.
Attempts to reach out to Paul Achot, the spokesman for Agwelek forces and the International Medical Corps for comment over the kidnapping were remain futile by press time.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently reported 31 humanitarian access incidents across the country in September compared to 28 incidents in August 2023.
OCHA in statement issued last week said that Upper Nile State accounted for over a third of all reported incidents, while Western Bahr el Ghazal and Unity states have recorded six and five incidents respectively.
“Six out of eleven incidents in Upper Nile were of restriction of movement, and four incidents were recorded of violence/threat against humanitarian personnel and assets,” it said.
It noted incidents of violence and threats against humanitarian staff and assets accounted for the highest number of incidents for the third consecutive month.
