Wreckage of the Mundri East commissioner’s vehicle after it was burned to ashes by gunmen – Courtesy photo.

The Minister of Information in Western Equatoria State says two police personnel have been abducted and a vehicle belonging to the Commissioner of Mundri West County burned to ashes over the weekend.

Minister Mohammed Juma said the vehicle was returning from Ladingwa Boma after dropping off the sick brother of the Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, Joseph Ngere Paciko.

The commissioner was not in the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Juma said gunmen wearing military uniforms stopped the vehicle after it dropped off the Speaker’s brother.

“This incident happened on Saturday, when the brother of the Speaker, Joseph Ngere Paciko, was sick in Juba. After he was brought from Juba, he was taken back to his home in Ladingwa Boma in Bangolo Payam, that’s when soldiers in uniform appeared,” he said.

The minister said the affiliation of the gunmen could not immediately be established.

“It could not be identified whether they were from the IO. They took two police officers who were in the car and the driver,” he said.

The driver was later released after the gunmen reportedly identified him as a civilian.

Juma said the driver told authorities that he had been tied up and forced to watch as the vehicle was burned.

“The incident happened after they dropped the Speaker’s brother on their return. As they were being taken, the driver said he was tied and that the car was burnt to ashes in front of him,” he explained.

He said the driver was later released after the gunmen established that he was a civilian.

The two police officers, however, remain unaccounted for, with their whereabouts still unknown.

“Until now, the whereabouts of the two police officers remain unknown. The state government is investigating,” he stated.

Minister Juma said investigations are underway to establish the identities of the gunmen and the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the two police officers.