After 2 years in captivity, Ranger escapes from Rebel Leader ‘106′
Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 17 2007 | By: admin
After being in Epulu for a couple of days I made my way to the Park Station at Kahuzi-Biega in South Kivu to help train the guards who are working there. Outside the entrance to the station I saw these Rangers and their families celebrating.
The man in the middle, in blue, is called Jean Marie and is a guard at the park.
Two years ago he was kidnapped by a rebel leader known as ‘106′. 106 was a soldier who left the army with a group of men to form their own rebel group. They came to the Kahuzi Patrol Post and took this guy into the bush, where he was held hostage for two years.
He was often badly treated and menaced by the group, but luckily for Jean Marie he knew how to write in French and Swahili, and so the leader, 106, decided not to kill him and used him as a secretary instead. Also, because he is such a good guard, he was also used by the rebels, by force, to train them in military movements and tactics.
All the time for two years, day and night, there was always a man pointing a gun at him so he could never escape. On the very last day of his captivity, the leader 106 finally decided to kill him because he was no longer of any use to the group. It was a day of violence with him being hit and badly wounded, in preparation to kill him that night. But that evening there was a true miracle and Jean Marie was left alone in his state, probably thought too badly injured to flee, and so he took this, his first chance in two years, and made his escape.
He fled into the forest and spent eight days on the run. The leader 106 has many connections with the other rebel group, the interhamwe, who have many roadblocks in the area. 106 sent a message to the interhamwe telling them to bring this man Jean Marie back to him when he crosses one of their roadblocks.
When Jean Marie reached one of these roadblocks, the interhamwe knew who he was and showed him the message that asked for him to be returned to 106. Jean Marie told the interhamwe that he had been a prisoner of 106 and forced to work for him for two years as a slave, and that if they sent him back to 106 then he would be killed.
God was with Jean Marie, for the interhamwe said that they had no problem with him and that if what he said was true, and he had already managed to escape just before being killed, then chance was on his side and it was not for them to take chance away.
Just three days before this photo was taken, Jean Marie made it back to his wife and his family here near the station. In the picture below, on his right, is Jean Marie’s wife, and on the left is the Chief Warden of Kahuzi-Biega, Monsieur Beghene Katsumbano.
Technorati : Congo, Kahuzi-Biega, Rebels, South Kivu
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9 Responses to “After 2 years in captivity, Ranger escapes from Rebel Leader ‘106′”
Fred, on 17 Apr 2007
Nice to hear some good news. I wonder if it is safe for him to remain in the area now?
(PS Half-way through your account, ‘106′ becomes ‘160′.)
Simona, on 18 Apr 2007
What an amazing story!
Sebastian Hogberg, on 18 Apr 2007
Truly a amazing story!
Hopefully the rebels will leave the park rangers alone in the future, so they can do their important job.
Esther, on 18 Apr 2007
A fabulous story - this needs more coverage! Congratulations and my best to Jean-Marie and his family. Are rangers always under this threat?
Emmanuel, on 19 Apr 2007
Wonderful news. Let’s not forget the two rangers who were abducted by Nalu rebels in January 2005 in the northern sector of Virunga. We have not had any news from them. There is still a chance that they may be alive.
Elie, on 20 Apr 2007
Fred, yes it is safe for Jean Marie to return to this post because the Colonel ‘106′ has now in these past couple of weeks joined the Congolese army at Centre de Brassage, Ruberizi, along with all his men.
When ‘106′ came through the jungle he stopped for a moment at Chivanga Head Quarters of Kahuzi-Biega. People who knew him they asked about Jean Marie, he laughed and said that Jean Marie was on his way.
This was not true because Jean Marie had escaped and was not with 106’s men, but also it was partly true because Jean Marie was making his way back by himself, and information about his escape and where he’d been had by then reached 106’s people.
Chivanga was a favourite place of ‘106′ and he wants to always stay here. But of course he now cannot
because ‘106′ has accepted to quit the forest and to be integrated into the forest. I have heard that this was because he was tired of making so much war.
Elie, on 20 Apr 2007
Hello Esther
Because of the work that we do, we are always in a constant battle either with rebels or even poachers, and so yes the threat is always there.
We are determined though to do our work well and this is why it is so important for us to have good sources of information on the activities that occur in the jungle.
But no matter what dangers we must face, all of us guards have pledged to do our best to protect the park, and to remain faithful to our work here.
For example, when I was at Chivanga, I saw a guard who had the bone in his arm broken by a bullet. It was during the night when 106 and his men wanted to steal guns and equipment at the Kahuzi Patrol Post.
106’s objective was to take all our equipment, as well as all of our guards to be integrated into his army and so increase his strength. But this objective was not possible and so fighting occurred with this guard’s arm being broken and unfortunately today it no longer works.
It is good news that 106 and his men have been integrated, but there are still many many rebel groups in this area, not including all the armed poachers. And with many of our men having been killed in the past, the risk is still strong today and for the future.
One problem the rangers are facing, is that if there is a major incident in the park with an arm or
a leg being lost, there is no financial assistance to further help that man in his life, which is why the support that we now get from our donors is so important.
Thank you for your question.
Elie
Elie Mundima Nkuba » Blog Archive » Voice of America, on 23 Apr 2007
[…] the post on Tuesday about Jean Marie’s escape from the rebel leader 106, Samantha Newport from the WildlifeDirect team saw the story and wrote a press release. The story […]
Global Voices Online » Conservation 2.0: Congo Park Rangers Bring Global Attention To Endangered African Wildlife, on 16 May 2007
[…] A blog post by Elie Nkuba about a park ranger, who escaped after being held by rebels for two years, was picked up by Voice of America: From the post on Tuesday about Jean Marie’s escape from the rebel leader 106, Samantha Newport from the WildlifeDirect team saw the story and wrote a press release. The story was then this weekend picked up by Voice of America and so on Saturday I did an interview over the phone with one of their reporters Kari in Kenya. […]
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