As he returned home from school, Emmanuel Habimana met a group of men who ordered him to carry luggage they had with them back to their base in Rutchuru, Northern Kivu, in the eastern swathes of DR Congo.

These men were from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Habimana was just 15 and in Primary Five at Karembe Primary School in Northern Kivu.

"It took us two days on foot to get to their base. Until then, I thought I would be let free after I had abided by their order. I was wrong, they told me I could not leave,” said Habimana, who has since escaped and is at a support facility where child soldiers from the militia are rehabilitated before being integrated back into the community.

Habimana is one of the hundreds of children recruited by the militia group that is composed of elements responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and has since been blacklisted as a terror group.

When they got to the base, he found a group of other young captives, most of them younger than him, and that was when they were told that they were being recruited as fighters.

Their mission was to overthrow the Government in Rwanda.

"We stayed there for three days before we were taken to a military training base in Rutchuru. We were about 60 children, they (FDLR) subscribed us to tough military drills which were hard for us. We trained for five months before we were armed and officially joined the group as fighters,” he says.

Looting food 

Habimana said while at the training base, they only got food to eat after stealing from people’s farms and they were ordered to share their loots with the trainers.

"Life was harsh. I would be made to carry more than 70 kilogrammes of food items for a long distance. Nobody cared; in some cases despite carrying the food, we went without a meal after our so-called seniors ate the food,” recalls Habimana.

Fighting other militia groups within eastern DR Congo, Habimana said the children are normally used as human shield and many have lost their lives in the process.

He says he personally fought Mai Mai, Nyatura, Laia Mtomboki, among other militia groups operating in the swathes of the restive eastern DR Congo.

"In most cases, we were forced to use drugs before being sent on the frontline,” he says.

Habimana shares his experience with hundreds of children who were recruited in the military as child combatants. 

Jean Pierre Ngabinstinze was in Primary Four at Gashorwa Primary School in Uganda, before he was lured by someone who promised him a lucrative job in DR Congo.

"They told me they were taking me to DR Congo to mine gold. We were many and loaded us onto a bus with colleagues and after travelling for two days, we found ourselves in a military camp, the man told us the gold mines were controlled by the soldiers, ” said Ngabitsinze.

He says the man disappeared and the following day, and they were taken for military training in Walikali region, in a place called Mashuta.

"I spent three years in DR Congo forests as a soldier, wasted my time and wasted my youthful years, I wish I had continued my studies,” he says.

How they escaped

People who left the ranks of the militia say FDLR commanders are ruthlessness and fighters have been executed after they were caught trying to return to Rwanda.

But this does not prevent people to look for ways to escape because of what they are faced with deep down the jungles according to the two former child soldiers.

For Habimana to escape, he said he met a garrison of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Congo (Monusco) as he fought on the frontline. He surrendered and asked to be repatriated.

"I was tired of bad life as a soldier. We never got paid and there was no future for me in the forests, I saw Monusco, discharged and dismantled my gun before surrendering. They took me to Goma, then repatriated me, ”  he says.

This is the same way more FDLR members use as an escape.

Hope for a better future

Children who repatriated from FDLR and other militia groups are received at Muhoza ex-child Combatant Centre in Musanze District, where they are equipped with basic vocational vocation and later sent back in their communities with some kits to start a new life.

The younger ones are enrolled into schools to resume their education.

The former child soldiers say they are optimistic of the future is given the skills acquired at the centre.

"I want to train as a mechanic and my ambition is to become self employed,” says Ngabitsinze.

He called for Monusco and other international organisations to help more children get out of FDLR bases so they can start new meaningful lives.

"There are more children held in FDLR bondage. All of them wish to leave the captivity but it is hard because they are closely monitored by the commanders. Most of them fear to die and opt to remain there suffering. Some are girls and women who have been turned into sex slaves,” he says.

More than 900 child ex-child soldiers have repatriated and received hands-on skills and basic kits to start new life according to Raphael Rucyahana, the manager of the Muhoza Centre.

Rucyahana said the centre started opened its doors 10 years ago and most of the children helped before have managed to build new lives.