Aboke

Aboke is a town in the Kole District of the Northern Region of Uganda. It was the location of the Aboke abductions, in October 1996.[1]

Aboke
Municipality
Aboke
Location in Uganda
Coordinates: 02°21′28″N 32°40′59″E
Country Uganda
RegionNorthern Region of Uganda
Sub-regionLango sub-region
DistrictKole District
Elevation
3,419 ft (1,042 m)

Location

Aboke is located in Akwiridid Parish, Aboke sub-county, Kole District, in the Lango sub-region, in Northern Uganda. It is approximately 29 kilometres (18 mi), by road, north-west of the city of Lira, the largest urban centre in the sub-region.[2] This is approximately 73 kilometres (45 mi), by road, southeast of the city of Gulu, the largest urban centre in Northern Uganda.[3] The geographical coordinates of Aboke are:02°21'28.0"N, 32°40'59.0"E (Latitude:2.357778; Longitude:32.683056).[4] Aboke sits at an average elevation of 1,042 metres (3,419 ft) above sea level.[5]

Overview

Aboke lies on the old Lira-Gulu Road, just north of the Okole River. The town is the location of the five-parish Aboke sub-county. The parishes in Aboke sub-county are: (a) Akwiridid (b) Apach (c) Apuru (d) Ogwangacuma and (e) Opeta.[6]

The town is also the location of St. Mary's College Aboke Girls School, a residential girls-only secondary school administered by Italian nuns. It is at this school that the Aboke abductions occurred on the early morning of 10 October 1996.[7]

Aboke abductions
Main article: Aboke abductions

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the rebel group which started in January 1987 by Joseph Kony, began as a liberation group aimed at removing the National Resistance Movement led by Yoweri Museveni from power.[8]

In the early 1990s the LRA began to receive support and supplies from the government of Sudan at that time. The character of the LRA changed. The rebels began to target civilians, mutilating those they thought to be government sympathisers and abducting children as child soldiers and sex slaves.[8]

In the early morning hours of 10 October 1996, an estimated 300 rebels of the LRA invaded St Mary’s College Secondary School Aboke and abducted 139 young girls aged 13 to 16 years of age. Sister Rachele Frassera, an Italian nun, who was the deputy headmistress at the school, followed the rebels and negotiated the release of 109 girls. The rebels kept the other 30 as sex slaves for their commanders.[7][8][9]

Four of the girls died in captivity while the remaining 26 eventually escaped from Sudan, back to their families in Uganda. Many had babies fathered by the rebels, including Joseph Kony himself. The girl to escape was Catherine Ajok, who on 14 December 2008, escaped from the LRA when the UPDF bombed the LRA base in Garamba, in the DR Congo. She arrived at a UPDF base in Dungu, DRC, in March 2009.[7]

See also

References
  1. Conan Businge (27 March 2009). "Who are the Aboke girls?". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. Google (24 April 2020). "Driving Distance Between Lira And Aboke In Uganda" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  3. Google (24 April 2020). "Driving Distance Between Gulu And Aboke In Uganda" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  4. Google (24 April 2020). "Location of Aboke, Kole District, Northern Region, Uganda" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  5. Flood Map (24 April 2020). "Elevation of Aboke, Uganda". Floodmap.net. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  6. Land Conflict Mapping Tool (24 April 2020). "The Parishes In Aboke Subcounty, Kole District, Uganda". Land Conflict Mapping Tool. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  7. New Vision (10 October 2019). "When Kony Turned Aboke Students Into Wives". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  8. Xan Rice (20 October 2007). "Background: the Lord's Resistance Army". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  9. Bamuturaki Musinguzi (31 January 2013). "Recollections of the Aboke girls abduction". The Observer (Uganda). Kampala. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

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