The authorities of Abyei have said the relationship between their neighbors, the Messiriya of Sudan, has improved after abductors returned an 11-year-old Biong Riing, who had been in captivity for six years.
According to officials, Messiriya armed youth attacked the areas of Kolom, Lou, and Mabok and kidnapped two children during a deadly fight that claimed many lives in 2020.
Abyei Peacebuilding Minister Abuonweng Majut said the boy was handed over on Thursday and reunited with his family on Friday.
“The boy named Biong Riing Dombeek Awet was abducted with his sister by Messiriya attackers on 14th May 2020 during the deadly incident in the Mabok area,” she explained.
Majut said that they have been communicating with the Messiriya peace committee for all these years, but that there was no positive response until recently, when the war raging in Sudan forced the Messiriya to take refuge in the Abyei area.
“We communicated with the Messiriya peace committee several times, and there was no fruitful result. However, the situation is now friendly due to the Sudanese conflict, which made Sudanese refugees reside in camps in Abyei,” she explained. “The committee called us and revealed that the boy had been found and was ready to be handed over to us. I received the committee in my office, and the boy is healthy and sound-minded, and we already called the family and handed over the boy to his grandfather, Adombeek Awet, on Friday.”
“We are still in discussions about the girl because the Arabs divided the abducted children, and I thank Messiriya Peace Committee Chairman Abdal Majit and his team for their efforts to trace and return the abducted child,” Majut added.
She accused the Messiriya of practicing slavery and abducting boys to look after their cattle, but said she was surprised by the recent abduction of girls.
For his part, Abyei Paramount Chief Bulabek Deng Kuol urged the neighboring communities to coexist peacefully.
“The relationship between the tribes of Dinka Ngok and Messiriya improved, and it is the first time for Messiriya to return what they have taken from the people of Abyei,” he said. “Maybe the Sudanese military crisis created this conducive environment because it was not like that before. These days, the attacks in Abyei are not organized and coordinated but rather the initiative of a few criminals.”
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