A former SPLA-IO senior officer Colonel John Data, who was detained for more than 11 months has been released and has joined the SPLA-IO breakaway group that signed a peace agreement with Yei State government in May last year.
Brigadier General Hilary Yakani, who was the chief negotiator of the rebel breakaway faction, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that colonel Data was released earlier this month by Ugandan authorities together with other SPLA-IO soldiers who were arrested at Kajokeji-Yumbe Uganda border.
Data’s family had earlier appealed to the Ugandan authorities to release him on health grounds saying his health condition was critical.
Yakani said Colonel Data has already joined his forces in Morobo County where they are based.
For his part, Lam Paul Gabriel Deputy spokesperson for SPLA-IO also confirmed that John Data was released alongside other rebel soldiers after SPLM/A IO deputy chairperson Henry Odwar and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni held talks regarding the issue.
The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) arrested Colonel John Data in Oroba area in September 2017 and accused him of recruiting Ugandan youth to fight alongside SPLA-IO, before his defection, an accusation he denied
Source: Radio Tamazuj
