The Joint Task Team in Rwenzori West, while working with our police in the Eastern DRC, arrested a mother of two, with 3 other girls aged 11, 13, and 15, who were being smuggled out of the country as ADF recruits.
The 22-year-old mother and her two sons aged 3 and 5, plus the 3 other girls, had traveled from Buziika village in Njeru sub-county, Jinja district.
According to police spokesperson, Fred Enanga these people reached the borderline on 22.02.2023 and crossed into the Eastern DRC from Banamayi in Kabuyini cell, where they were intercepted by the Congolese security, and handed over to our Joint Task Team on 25.02.2023.
“The ADF recruits who were being led by an ADF operative, whose identity was established and included on our wanted list,” said Enanga.
“The ADF are finding it hard to smuggle recruits out of the country and are recruiting children and women to carry out a variety of roles within or for the groups. Children are used in hostilities such as frontline fighting, executions, and terror-related activities. Sometimes they are used for supporting roles as messengers, smugglers, or spies among others,” Enanga added.
He continued to caution parents and guardians against handing over their children to actors of violence like the ADF. The 4 suspected recruits and the two young boys were handed over to the Mountain Division of the UPDF for further management.
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