Authorities are searching for nine inmates who escaped from a main prison in the contested Abyei region following a violent protest Wednesday evening, officials said. Two other escapees have been recaptured.
The breakout occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 19, 2025, at the Abyei Central Prison. According to James Simon, Director of the Abyei Community Protection Committee, inmates staged protests, destroying doors, windows, and sections of the prison wall.
“Community police and other forces made great efforts to control a good number of prisoners; however, 11 inmates escaped,” Simon told Radio Tamazuj. “Two were arrested, and nine are on the run.”
Simon said security forces across the region are on “maximum alert” and that a pursuit is underway to apprehend the remaining fugitives.
He dismissed claims from some prisoners that the protest was motivated by shortages of food or delays in their court trials. Simon stated that the area administration provides food on time and that a high-level judge had just arrived from Juba, South Sudan’s capital, to hear pending cases.
“The claims are not authentic,” Simon said. “Some inmates have committed capital crimes, that is murder cases under Article 206 of the penal code, and the intention was to escape trial.”
Yuohna Akol, Abyei’s Minister of Information and Communication, confirmed the escape and noted its timing coincided with the judge’s arrival to adjudicate a backlog of cases.
“This happened at the time the judge who is assigned from the national judiciary administration to try different cases committed by suspects arrived,” Akol said.
This is not the first security incident at the facility. Earlier this year, prisoners damaged infrastructure in a separate event, leading to one inmate escaping.
The region has experienced other recent jailbreaks. Two months ago, in the nearby area of Amiet, armed youths stormed a facility and freed detained associates, an incident that resulted in a loss of life, according to officials.
The Abyei region is a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan, administered under a special status. The “Abyei Special Administrative Area” refers to this local governing structure.