(YEI) – Seven people, including a paramount chief and two humanitarian workers, have been released after being abducted earlier this week in Yei River County, Central Equatoria State.
According to Commissioner Emmanuel Taban, the group was abducted in two separate incidents on Monday, 7 July 2025. In the first incident, four farmers were taken from their farms. Later the same day, an organisation’s vehicle was ambushed along the Maridi Road, leading to the abduction of two staff members and a local paramount chief.
Commissioner Taban told Access Radio Yei on Thursday that all those abducted have now been released. The four farmers were reportedly released on the same day of their abduction after being forced to carry looted items for the armed group.
“The farmers were taken in the morning and were forced to carry some items to a nearby area, then they were let go,” said Taban.
The two humanitarian workers were freed on Tuesday, 8 July, while the paramount chief was released on Thursday, 10 July. No ransom or conditions were publicly disclosed regarding the release.
The area has experienced a rise in insecurity in recent months, with several reports of road ambushes and abductions, particularly along roads connecting Yei to nearby towns. Local authorities say these incidents have disrupted both farming activities and humanitarian access.
In May 2025, a separate attack in Yei and neighbouring Morobo County resulted in the abduction of ten people, two women and eight men, and the destruction of two passenger vehicles. According to the State Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement, Leon Abe Brown, the incidents were allegedly carried out by fighters from the National Salvation Front/Army (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirilo. All ten abductees in that incident were later released.
