Nyala, May 20 (Darfur24)
Families in Nyala said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) detained several students while they were traveling to Northern State to sit for the Sudanese Secondary School Certificate Examinations, before transferring them to the Daqris prison detention center west of the city.
Four families told Darfur24 that their sons were arrested last April while crossing areas in Kordofan en route to examination centers. Some were reportedly detained in the towns of Al-Mazroub and Hamra Al-Sheikh before later being transferred to Daqris prison.
Fatima Ishaq Mohammed, the mother of one of the detained students, said her son informed the family of his arrest in Al-Mazroub three days before the start of the exams.
She added that dozens of students were detained with him and transferred to the detention center about a week later.
Other parents and witnesses told Darfur24 that several students were stopped at RSF checkpoints while attempting to travel for the exams, while some others were later released and managed to return to Nyala after periods of detention.
According to testimonies collected by Darfur24, the arrests involved students from Quraida, Rahid al-Bardi, Habaniya, Bulbul Dalal al-Anqara, and Bilel.
Meanwhile, education authorities allied to the Sudanese military-backed government said that 503 students were arrested last April after completing registration procedures for the secondary school examinations and were later transferred to the Daqris detention center.