Nearly six months have passed since Viola Osman’s two children, Stella and Alfred, were abducted along the Lirya Road in South Sudan. Osman was travelling with her children from Juba to Kapoeta when armed men stopped their vehicle and took her children away. Despite the long wait and lack of information, Osman remains hopeful that her children will be found. She has been receiving support from local officials and humanitarian organisations, who have been working to locate her children.
The abduction occurred on May 19, 2026, when Osman’s vehicle was attacked by eight armed men, five of whom carried heavy weapons and three had Kalashnikov rifles. The attackers wore civilian clothes, and one spoke in a local language. Osman tried to hold on to her son but was forced to let go when a gun was pressed against her head. The attackers fled, taking Stella, four, and Alfred, two, with them.
In the days following the abduction, authorities said search efforts were underway. Tom Longisa Atim, a National Security officer in the Lirya sector, said search teams followed the suspected abductors’ trail through Khor Engliz, Jebel Guton, and the forest between Lirya and Talakun, towards Pibor. However, the searches did not lead to the recovery of the children.
Jacob Werchum, Information Minister of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, said investigations had begun and that security forces and community leaders along the border had been instructed to monitor movements. He said authorities were investigating whether suspected Murle armed youth were responsible, although the allegations have not been established. Werchum also called on the Eastern Equatoria government to strengthen security in the affected areas.
Osman says local officials collected documents and photographs of the children and shared them with humanitarian organisations. She mentioned Gumuruk and Kenet as possible locations where the children might be held, based on information circulating in the community. She also complained that authorities were not keeping the family informed about the searches, and she wanted regular updates and information from each location visited by the search teams.
The abduction of Osman’s children is not an isolated incident. There have been reports of child abductions and trafficking investigations in South Sudan. On October 17, 2026, the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) announced the arrest of eight suspects in connection with an alleged child trafficking network operating in Suk Darfur residential area in Mangateen, northeast of Juba.
Osman remains confident that the government of South Sudan is capable of returning her children, as well as the children of many other mothers whose little ones have been taken. Her appeal remains the same: authorities should intensify the search, provide regular updates to affected families, and do everything possible to establish the whereabouts of missing children.
Key points
- Authorities in South Sudan are investigating the abduction of two children, Stella and Alfred, who were taken from their mother along the Lirya Road six months ago.
- The abduction is part of a larger problem of child abductions and trafficking in South Sudan, with reports of an alleged child trafficking network operating in Suk Darfur residential area in Mangateen.
- The mother of the abducted children, Viola Osman, is calling on authorities to intensify the search efforts and provide regular updates to affected families.
