The management of the Number One Citizen Newspaper has distanced itself from a journalist who is being held by the national security service, describing his detention as a “personal matter”.

The chairman of the Union of Journalists in South Sudan said Jackson Ochaya went missing on Tuesday last week.

Oliver Modi, however, told Eye Radio that the journalist was later confirmed to be in detention at the national security building, blue house.

His detention came after he reportedly wrote an article on clashes between government forces and the opposition group, National Salvation Front, NAS.

But in a separate statement, the Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) and the Association of Media Development (AMDISS) said Ochaya wrote a story about illegal gold mining in the areas where NAS is operating, and the story says NAS denied the accusation.

The article reportedly angered the National Security Service.

They questioned why Ochaya communicated with the spokesperson of NAS and how he came into contact with NAS in the first place.

However, the management of the Number 1 Citizen newspaper on Wednesday said the arrest and subsequent detention of Ochaya were related to personal offenses.

It could no cite the personal matters that led to Ochaya’s arrest, however, it issued a public apology.

“The management would like to further distance itself from all other social media reports purporting our views following the arrest. We, therefore, apologize for any inconvenience caused,” the management of Number 1 Citizen newspaper wrote.

There are unconfirmed reports that Jackson Ochaya is an agent of the National Security Service, who is believed to have violated the code of the service, through his journalistic work.