My Congo ordeal

For most people, being kidnapped or held hostage is a strange and terrifying experience but for 32-year-old Jean Marie Vianney Nkubiri, this is not the case.Through an abduction experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nkubiri has become braver and he considers himself very lucky for having been able to escape from his captors.He was seized and detained in the border town of Goma while on his shopping routines over two months ago. Nkubiri says he was brutally tortured, together with more than ten other Rwandans, whom he left at the detention centre commonly referred to as T2.“I consider myself having gone to hell during my captivity because of the inhumane experience I went through while under hostage,” he says.Soon after his arrest, Nkubiri recalls that he was blindfolded and taken through a dark tunnel where he spent about two weeks before being transferred to the detention centre where he met other Rwandan hostages.Nkubiri says that while under detention, they were regularly beaten and forced to go for several days without food while doing heinous tasks such as carrying heavy stones and bricks for the biggest part of the day.Sometimes they would be forced to pretend to be M23 rebels and ordered to fight against each other. They were given bamboo sticks and asked to beat each other during the torture sessions.He says that, together with his fellow hostages, the only provision was to sleep on the floor in this cramped detention centre.Nkubiri owns a retail store in Rubavu town and at the time of his arrest he was attempting to buy products for his business, as has been the routine for the years he has operated his small-scale business. He has two children aged four and seven. Nkubiri recalls that while at the detention centre, he wrote a small note and managed to sneak it to his wife through one of the people who usually delivered them food. This is when the long journey to his freedom began.“I had been missing for several weeks before my wife got to know about my predecament. She then attempted to bribe Congolese soldiers three times with $100 on each occasion but in vain,” Nkubiri recalls with a tinge of bitterness in his voice.As “diplomatic” means through negotiations to set him free commenced, Nkubiri separately embarked on a mission to escape from his abductors and true to his ambition, he was successful.“I befriended one of the soldiers who were in charge of the prison. Through him, I requested my wife to increase the ransom so that I could quickly accomplish my mission,” he says.According to Nkubiri’s wife, close to US$400 was spent to secure her husband’s freedom.While in captivity, Nkubiri and his friends whom he believes are still held captive, hardly got food; they were regularly given water for survival.A resident of Gakuyo village Muhondo sector in Gakenke district, Nkubiri was abducted on July 2 making him one of the victim of latest negative sentiments and mounting bigotry against Rwandans and other Kinyarwanda speaking communities in the eastern DRC.He says that most other kidnapping victims are severely tortured with their tormentors accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels.In June, 11 Rwandan nationals were handed over to local Immigration authorities in Rubavu district after being tortured by armed forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).They bore grave bruises as a result of severe physical torture and said they were arrested and denied food for several days.The Belgian Police said last weekend it had finalised its investigations into recent attacks on Rwandans there and handed its findings to the King’s Prosecution. Congolese are blamed for the attacks.This follows the stabbing of the son of Senate president Dr Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo and an attack on Jules Mwiseneza, at a subway station in Brussels.

National

My Congo ordeal