Wife to LRA commander returns from captivity

Dominic Ogweno’s wife breastfeeding her three weeks old baby at Gulu fourth division barracks

What you need to know:

The Ugandan army is leading a US-backed African Union force tasked with capturing the LRA’s leaders, several of whom are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague

The wife to Lord Resistance Army’s second in command, Dominic Ongweno, is among the 15 people, that have been received, this morning at fourth division army barracks in Gulu, from Central African Republic.
The returnees include four other women and eleven children, ranging from three weeks to eight years of age.
According to Ms Delis Abang, Ogweno’s wife and a mother of three, they were released by the LRA commander only identified as Aligech.
“On August 6, we were gathered and asked to get back to our homes with our children. Our commander, Aligech said he had received information from commander Kony, that all women and children should be set free and they get back home,” said Ms Abang.

“We were 32 in number with other women and children from other countries, and we were all released,” she added.
Ms Abang, further said Aligech and other LRA officers gave them the direction to follow and that’s how they managed to get to community leaders that later took them to the village chief in Yaringa village in Central African Republic. They in turn handed them over the UPDF.

Ms Abang, 23, was abducted in 2005, when she was only 13, years. She was abducted from Minakulu in Oyam district, when she was returning from school.
“Upon my abduction, I straight away started staying with Ongweno, who I have had three children with,” she narrated.
Another mother of three, Ms Suzan Laker,22, also narrated that they spent three days walking up to the time they reached the communities.

“We ate yams during our walk and we were depending on stagnate waters that we came across,” she said.

Some of the children with their parents at fourth division in Gulu upon their return from Central African Republic

Fourth division Spokes Person Capt, Mark Mutono, said, if Kony can order for the return of the people that he abducted, that means, he is losing the battle.
“Kony and his top commanders are now incapacitated. We hope that many more will still return home. If we see that the Ongweno, is able to accept his children return home, it’s a gesture that, we shall rescue all thosethat are still in captivity,” he said.
All the returnees were taken to Gulu Central protection unit, where they will be receiving psych-social treatment, before they return to their original homes.

Mr Ongwen, is among the top LRA rebel leaders who were indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The others are Okot Odhiambo, Joseph Kony as well as Raska Lukwiya and
Vincent Otti who have since died.
The Ugandan army is leading a US-backed African Union force tasked with capturing the LRA’s leaders, several of whom are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.