Aboke Abductions - Abductions

Abductions

By 8:15 pm on 9 October 1996, Ugandan Independence Day, the expected soldiers had not yet arrived at the school. The three Sisters held a meeting to decide on a plan of action. The option of moving the girls out of the school and dispersing them was discussed, but it was already dark and the possibility that LRA rebels would be waiting outside to attack, deterred the sisters from this course. An hour later the girls went to bed, though the mother superior stayed up until 11:30pm to pray in the chapel. At 2:30 am, the night watchman at the college knocked on Sister Fassera's door stating: "Sister, the rebels are here."

Sister Fassera immediately woke Sister Alba and then moved out of the convent towards the front gate (Which was actually a net) of the compound and spotted the rebels outside the gate. Thinking that the rebels had been slowed by the gate and that they may be able to evacuate the girls through the back gate, the Nuns moved back towards the four dormitories, each of which had about 50 students. However, as they drew closer they saw flashlights around the dormitories and realized that the LRA had already come through the back gate.

In the knowledge that, if caught, the rebels would force them to open the doors, Sisters Alba and Fassera woke the one older nun, Sister Matilde, and together hid in the compound's stock house. Through the night, they heard the sounds of rebels moving through the compound but never the voice of one of the girls, giving them hope that the rebels had been kept out of the dorms by the iron reinforced doors and windows. Later estimates put the number of armed rebels at about 200. They burned the school vehicle, ransacked the clinic and unsuccessfully attempted to burn several buildings.

As dawn approached, the nuns heard the sounds of the rebels leaving. At first light (approximately 6:30 am) Sister Alba sighted a small group of girls wandering in the open. When asked if they were okay, Claudia, a girl in the second class (the equivalent of eighth grade in the United States or Canada - students are typically age 13-14), stated that the other girls had been taken away. The sisters rushed to the dormitories for classes four, five and six. However the girls inside, believing that the rebels had captured the nuns refused to open the doors. Eventually the students were persuaded out. They reported to the sisters that the rebels had abducted classes one, two and three. One dormitory window had been broken and another's wall demolished. 152 secondary school girls between 13 and 16 years of age had been taken. At the time none of the Sisters were able to perform an accurate count.