INFOGRAPHIC: 10 facts about the Atiak massacre
April 20th marked 21 years since the brutal massacre by the LRA of over 300 innocent children, men and women in Atiak trading centre, Atiak Sub-county then Gulu District now present Amuru District. Here are 10 facts about the massacre.
1. The Thursday April 20, 1995 attack was commanded by Vincent Otti, a native of Atiak Sub-county, then a senior commander in the LRA, who knew of the security lapse and terrain in Atiak Sub-county.
2. The Atiak Massacre claimed over 300 hundred lives just in a single night.
3. The attacks were reportedly carried out by a group of approximately 200-300 LRA rebels who over run a UPDF military detach.
4. It is reported that the rebels killed 75 Local Defense Unit (LDU) soldiers before rounding up civilians.
5. The method of killing was cruel. Men and boys, women, girls and expectant mothers were taken to the banks of Ayugi, a stream in Pabbo Sub-county, just 15 kilometres from Atiak Sub-county where they were then sporadically shot at by the LRA rebels. Some people survived while others didn’t make it alive.
6. Amongst those killed according to records of the massacre, included 48 students and two teachers from Atiak Technical School, a school within Atiak Sub-county.
7. Majority of the deceased were buried in a mass grave near Ayugi Banks.
8. In 1996, a monument that still stands to-date bearing names of some of the deceased was erected in memory of the dead in Atiak Trading Centre.
9. To-date survivors and some of the relatives of those killed have formed their own association, Atiak Massacre Association where they engage in income-generating activities.
10. In 2013, the association received Shs50m in donations from President Museveni following his visit in 2012 during the 17th anniversary to mark the Atiak Massacre.
