Over 100 children who had been abducted by Kamwena Nsapu militiamen in central Democratic republic of Congo have been rescued by the army.
According to a statement by UN mission in DRC (MONUSCO) the 100 children who have been freed were being kept as prisoners by the militiamen.
The children were reportedly freed by the army as it clashed with the Kamwena Nsapu militia between in the last 2 months.They are aged between 4 and 16yrs.
MONUSCO representative Charles Antoine Bambara said at a press conference in the capital Kinshasa that the latest group rescued consisted of 20 children.
Kamwena Nsapu militia in the DRC
The army said that the children were being used by the militiamen in their activities.
”The children told us after being rescued that they were used as military scouts. They also carried luggage of the militiamen when they moved from one place to another. The children were brain washed to the extent that they did not fear being shot dead” said DRC army officer Lieutenant Ambrose Mukule who led one of the sections that rescued the children.
”The rescued children told us that they underwent rituals to make them believe that they could not be hit by bullets.” said Mukule.
The Kamwena Nsapu militiamen are an outcome of a group of young men recruited by a local chief called Kamwena Nsapu who claimed to have been opposing what he called unjust domination by the government in Central Kasai region, near the city of Kananga.
Although Kamwena Nsapu was killed by the police 2 years ago, the militia group he started up continues to harass civilians and attack villages and has led to over 300,000 people being displaced..
Godfrey Olukya
