The paramount chief of the Asanqur says armed men seized five community figures in Nyala after they protested over the disappearance of a businessman and his wife. He has called on the Rapid Support Forces, which control the city, to investigate and secure their release.
Armed men abducted five prominent members of the Asanqur community in Nyala, South Darfur, after they took part in a protest demanding information about a missing businessman and his wife, the community's paramount chief, Ibrahim Adam Tabak, said on Monday 2 November, according to Darfur24 and The Sudan Times. The Arabic daily Alwan also reported the abductions.
Tabak named the five as Mahmoud Abdullah Mahmoud, director of Al-Miraj Private Schools; Ibrahim Mohammed Yaqoub; Younis Adam Malik; and two traditional leaders, Ibrahim Siddiq and Yahya. He said they were taken to an undisclosed location.
Background
The abductions followed a demonstration on Thursday 29 October outside Nyala's judicial headquarters. Dozens of Asanqur demanded answers about businessman Mohammed Abdullah Mahmoud Abu Qarjah and his wife, who were reportedly taken from their home about a week earlier. Darfur24 reported their abduction on 31 October. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
Tabak accused individuals linked to another community of directing the abductions. Babiker Siddiq, a member of the community, alleged that influential figures within the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were involved and were trying to stoke tension between the Asanqur and Arnaqa communities, The Sudan Times reported. Siddiq also said the abductors had targeted members of a committee set up to investigate the couple's disappearance and people involved in mediation. These allegations have not been independently verified.
The Asanqur leadership called on the RSF, which controls Nyala, to investigate, establish where the men are held and secure their immediate release, and to strengthen protection for civilians. Community members planned a further protest near the Mecca Bridge, which links northern and southern Nyala. In the reports reviewed by CERHA, neither the RSF nor the Tasis-led Government of Peace and Unity, which is based in Nyala, had responded.
A test for stated commitments
The case comes as the Tasis government stresses law and order in areas it administers. At the reopening of the North Darfur police headquarters in El Fasher this week, Prime Minister Mohamed Hassan al-Ta'aishi told officers that they must protect civilians and enforce the law without discrimination, and that rebuilding public trust would require accountability. How the authorities in Nyala handle the Asanqur abductions will be watched as an early test of those commitments.
Image: A market street and the post office in Nyala, South Darfur, 2012. Leovdvxxx, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.