Ugandan security authorities have received two women who spent years in captivity under the notorious Lordโs Resistance Army (LRA), alongside several children connected to rebel leader Joseph Kony, following their repatriation from the Central African Republic (CAR).
The returnees arrived at the UPDF Airbase in Entebbe under the supervision of senior military officials after being flown from Bangui, CARโs capital. According to the Uganda Peopleโs Defence Forces (UPDF), the group was escorted back home by the Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security, Maj Gen Richard Otto.
UPDF Acting Public Relations Officer, Col Chris Magezi, identified the women as 33-year-old Ikol Grace, a Ugandan abducted from Amuria District in 2003 at just 10 years old, and Aniyessi Teregina, a South Sudanese national who was kidnapped in 2006 from Yambio in Western Equatoria State at the age of 13.
Ikol returned with her two children โ Ayuma Maria, aged eight, and Oryema Bosco, aged two โ while Aniyessi arrived carrying a two-year-old orphaned child believed to be linked to Kony.
The women were part of a larger group of eight wives and 13 children who reportedly escaped from LRA captivity earlier this year after unidentified armed fighters attacked their hideout in a remote region south of Darfur near the borders of CAR, Sudan, and South Sudan.
Authorities revealed that the remaining women and children, who originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, have already been reunited with their families in their respective countries. Meanwhile, arrangements are underway to facilitate Aniyessiโs return to South Sudan for reunion with her relatives.
The repatriation underscores ongoing regional efforts to locate, rescue, and rehabilitate victims of the LRA, more than two decades after the rebel movement unleashed terror across northern Uganda and neighbouring nations.
Although sustained military campaigns significantly weakened the rebel group, remnants of the LRA are still believed to operate in isolated parts of the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Security and humanitarian officials say many survivors returning from captivity face immense emotional and physical challenges after enduring years in rebel-controlled territories. Experts continue to stress the importance of psychosocial support, medical treatment, and community reintegration programs to help survivors rebuild their lives.
UPDF records indicate that more than 150 former LRA captives including some of Konyโs wives and children were repatriated to Uganda from CAR between 2023 and 2024 after escaping captivity.
Human rights organisations and rehabilitation advocates have repeatedly called for increased support for former abductees, many of whom were taken as children and forced into armed conflict, displacement, and coerced marriages.
Despite years of regional and international military operations, Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, remains at large.
