Aboke girl returns after 13 years in captivity
Mar 12, 2009
AFTER 13 years in captivity, Catherine Ajok, arrived home yesterday. The 26-year-old Ajok was among the 139 students abducted by the LRA on October 9, 1996 from St. Mary’s College Aboke.
By Barbara Among
AFTER 13 years in captivity, Catherine Ajok, arrived home yesterday. The 26-year-old Ajok was among the 139 students abducted by the LRA on October 9, 1996 from St. Mary’s College Aboke.
She arrived aboard an aircraft at the military airbase in Entebbe at 5:00pm, accompanied by Capt. Deo Akiiki.
Ajok escaped on December 14, when the military bombarded the LRA base in Garamba, DR Congo. After a month of wondering in the jungles, Ajok reached a UPDF base in Dungu last Tuesday.
She was initially under Kony but was shifted to Col. Binangi Swoop after she gave birth.
“We were over 30 women for Kony. About 13 gave birth,†she said.
Ajok is a daughter to Dr Alfred Alyai and Licer Namataka of Aboke village, Apac district.
She looked healthy and wore a wide smile disguising the hell she had experienced. Her one-and-half-year-old son, Happiness Odonga, however, looked malnourished.
“I am happy to be home, thank you for praying for me,†she said, before she was taken to an undisclosed location.
“It is gratifying to know she is back,†said army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye.
He said Ajok would be taken for counselling before being handed to her parents. Ajok was one of the two remaining Aboke girls. The only remaining girl is Miriam Akello.
AFTER 13 years in captivity, Catherine Ajok, arrived home yesterday. The 26-year-old Ajok was among the 139 students abducted by the LRA on October 9, 1996 from St. Mary’s College Aboke.
She arrived aboard an aircraft at the military airbase in Entebbe at 5:00pm, accompanied by Capt. Deo Akiiki.
Ajok escaped on December 14, when the military bombarded the LRA base in Garamba, DR Congo. After a month of wondering in the jungles, Ajok reached a UPDF base in Dungu last Tuesday.
She was initially under Kony but was shifted to Col. Binangi Swoop after she gave birth.
“We were over 30 women for Kony. About 13 gave birth,†she said.
Ajok is a daughter to Dr Alfred Alyai and Licer Namataka of Aboke village, Apac district.
She looked healthy and wore a wide smile disguising the hell she had experienced. Her one-and-half-year-old son, Happiness Odonga, however, looked malnourished.
“I am happy to be home, thank you for praying for me,†she said, before she was taken to an undisclosed location.
“It is gratifying to know she is back,†said army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye.
He said Ajok would be taken for counselling before being handed to her parents. Ajok was one of the two remaining Aboke girls. The only remaining girl is Miriam Akello.