Senators have commended the heroism of former students of Nyange Secondary School who refused to give in to insurgents’ orders to separate along ethnic lines during a deadly attack on the school in 1997.

They said that this kind of heroism should set a good example for other Rwandans, especially the youth who are the key drivers of the country’s progress.

The lawmakers were speaking Thursday, January 27, during a virtual session about the upcoming  National Heroes’ Day, which is due Tuesday, February 1.

The discussions were organised in the context of a week-long campaign dedicated to promoting heroism.

Nyange (students) heroes are classified in Imena – a category of heroes reputed for extraordinary acts characterised by supreme sacrifice, high importance, and example.

Senators underscored that heroic acts must continue to be endorsed, and committed themselves to play a part to that end.

The Senate is in charge of monitoring the application of fundamental principles, including promotion of national unity.

Nyange Secondary School students became famous for their heroism after they stayed united when the Interahamwe militiamen, who infiltrated the school on March 18, 1997, ordered them to identify themselves along ethnic lines. The idea was to identify and kill Tutsi students.  The students were in senior five and six.

Both classrooms had a total of 47 students. By the end of the attack on the night of March 18, 1997, six students lay dead. Two others died later from other causes.

Phanuel Sindayiheba, president of Komezubutwari, an association of the Nyange attack survivors, told senators that the students told the militiamen that there were no Hutu or Tutsi among them, rather they were all Rwandans.  

Later, he said, the militiamen tried to single out Tutsi and started killing them. In response, the students decided to force their way out of the classroom. That's when the assailants started hurling grenades and shooting indiscriminately, killing or injuring some of the students in the process. 

"We were guided by the principle to love one another and to resist evil,” he said, adding that they got that from good values imparted to them by their families, school, and morally right members of the community.

Senator Cyprien Niyomugabo said that the Nyange heroes are a good contrast to villains such as Father Athanase Seromba who ordered the demolition of the Nyange church (that stood next to the school) three years earlier, during the Genocide against the Tutsi, where some 2,000 Tutsi had sought refuge. They were all killed.

He indicated that the students can play an important role in teaching unity and reconciliation among Rwandans.

"Their example should be a source of inspiration for unity and reconciliation clubs in schools,” he said.

Senator Emmanuel Havugimana said that the Nyange students’ heroism "is a model for the youth in secondary schools and universities which they should emulate."

Esperance Nyirasafari, the Senate Vice President in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, said she supported the idea of deploying the living heroes in unity efforts.  

"I am of the view that they should be used to continue inspiring the youth to uphold a culture of heroism, by sharing their experience, because we are seeing some young people going astray maybe as a result of family influence,” she said. 

She highlighted the fact that one of the former Nyange students, who unfortunately was among those killed during the attack, was a daughter of a man who had a role in committing the Genocide. 

Senator Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu said the Nyange heroes and all the other heroes, in general, had one thing in common: their actions sought to uphold the unity of Rwandans. 

He thanked the RPF-Inkotanyi for standing up for unity and reconciliation of Rwandans, which has since inspired different generations to do the same.