Western Equatoria state authorities apologized to the Catholic bishop of Tombura-Yambio for his brief detention and distanced themselves from the police intervention.
On Friday evening, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala was briefly detained by the Police at Nzara check point on his way to Yambio after attending a week-long workshop with his clergy on self reliance through local resources.The police commander accused the bishop of conducting a secret meeting in Nzara without his permission.
Bishop Hiiboro was released one hour later after the County Commissioner intervened. He escorted the bishop until Yambio.
Western Equatoria government spokesman, Gibson Wande, issued yesterday a statement distancing the Government from the incident in Nzara, SCR News correspondent reported.
Mr. Wande, who is also the minister for information, added that the State Government formed a committee to present apologies to bishop Hiiboro for the inconvenience.
He said he visited the Bishop to hear from him what happened.
Mr. Wande said the State Government was going to investigate the incident.
He called on the people of Western Equatoria to remain calm while the Government sorts out the situation.