The death of General Gabral Secyugu Nsengiyumva, a top FDLR militia commander, last week points to internal wrangles in the genocidal group based in the DR Congo, according to reports. The FDLR is an offshoot of former Rwandan government forces and militia groups that crossed into DR Congo after killing more than a million people during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The militia commander was reportedly shot by members of his own group on Friday, October 23, just three days after being promoted to head the FDLR/FOCAs G3 office, which made him the head of operations in the group. Before his promotion, Nsengiyumva was the Commandant of a training centre for senior officers of the FDLR. He was killed, along with his bodyguard, while on his way to his new deployment at the group’s headquarters. Reports indicate that he was killed by the FDLR itself because the person who killed him is a former bodyguard. According to sources, his murder was due to heightening internal wrangles. This is the second top commander to be killed in similar circumstances in a space of five months. Another one, General Jean-Baptiste Gakwerere, alias Esdras Kaleb, was killed about five months ago. The internal wrangles, coupled with pressure from the ever pressing Congolese armys operation to wipe the militia out of the countrys east signal a near end to the group. As the outfit is gradually being wiped out, it will also be a grand chance for hundreds of civilian dependants it holds hostage to return home. Nsengiyumva, as reported, was shot dead by a security guard on orders issued by the Commander of the FDLR, Maj Gen Ntawunguka Pacifique, alias Omega. Nsengiyunva is said to have been a close friend of Gen Silvestre Mudacumura who was killed by the Congolese army last year and FDLR political leader, Gen Gaston Iyamuremye, alias Victor Byiringiro. Last September, the former FOCA commander, Mudacumura, was shot and killed by Congolese forces, dealing a huge blow to the group. After Mudacumura’s demise, the militia is led by Ntawunguka, deputised by Brig Gen Cyprien Uzabakiriho. Nsengiyumva was born in 1962, in a place called Bugarura, in Muhura, Gatsibo District. Nsengiyumvas killing also follows another recent incident where FDLR elements attempted but failed to kill Col. Blaise Assifiwe also from ESO on September 28. Assifiwe was only wounded but he survived and escaped from FDLR and went into hiding in the Rutchuru territory of North Kivu. His exact whereabouts are not known since the incident.
