Lessons Learned from South Sudan Protection of Civilian Sites 2013–2016

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Apon
Malakal PoC Site
Shilluk elder
Apon is an old man who used to be a farmer before the
conflict and lived in Malakal town. In the first attack by
Nuer (SPLA-IO) on Malakal, his wife was killed. Some
Nuer (SPLA-IO or Lou Nuer White Army) abducted
him in order to protect him from others who wanted to
kill him, and he was spared. They walked for seven days
and crossed the Sobat River, all the way to Lankien, in
Nyirol, Jonglei. Four men, who were all abductees, were
put together, and on the journey they were fed porridge
and water. When they arrived, they found women and
more than eight children who had also been abducted,
but shortly thereafter they were separated.
After arriving in Lankien a Shilluk woman named
Nyakodok, who was married to a Nuer man and
therefore had a Nuer identity, took the abducted men
in to her house. Nyakodok worked for a UN agency
before the conflict and had also travelled from Malakal
to Lankien after the SPLA-IO took over. The four men
stayed at Nyakodok’s house for over a year and received
food rations through her. When the Shilluk militia of
Johnson Olony changed alliances from the government
to the opposition in April 2015, part of the agreement
was the return of abducted Shilluk civilians. Apon and
other men, one who was disabled and had to walk all
the way to Lankien from Malakal with a walking stick,
were put on a lorry and driven back to Canal and the
town of Warjok next to the Nile River. From there, they
were put on a ship belonging to Olony’s movement and
were taken to the UNMISS Malakal PoC site. Apon only
saw old men who were abducted being released, not
any women and children. Upon arrival in the Malakal
PoC site, he found one of his sons there, the others were
alive but had travelled to Juba. His sons had assumed
Apon was dead. Apon wants to return to Malakal town
when there is peace. “The PoC is hot, but it is better than
death—if we leave we will be killed.”