After months of living in fear, deprivation and constant uncertainty, Nkurunziza found a chance to escape. He made his way back to Rwanda, a country he had been told would punish him if he returned.
Instead, he found support and a second chance. He was reintegrated into society, granted citizenship, trained in a vocational skill and supported in developing his talent in music.
His journey is a story of survival, resilience and hope; a story of a child whose childhood was taken away but who later found an opportunity to rebuild his future.
A childhood spent in exile
Nkurunziza was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997 to Mvuyekure Bernard and Uwiragiye Jeannette, parents who had fled Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Growing up in exile, Nkurunziza continued his education and dreamed of building a better future. He was a student at Institut Katwe, where he was studying in Senior Four, when his life changed forever.
While in Rutshuru, he and his friend John were abducted by FDLR fighters and taken to Walikale Territory. There, they were brought to an FDLR military camp and informed that they would become soldiers.
However, during the first weeks at the camp, they were not immediately trained in combat. Instead, they were forced to perform tasks that supported the rebel group, including carrying ammunition, transporting property taken from civilians and collecting supplies needed by fighters.
Nkurunziza believes his abduction was also part of an attempt by FDLR to force his father to join the armed group.
According to him, the rebels wanted his father to become a fighter, but he refused because he had a family to support.
“My father was already old, and he told them, ‘No, I have a family to take care of. I do not want to join the army or become part of those activities.’ That is when they decided to use me as a way to force him to join,” Nkurunziza recalled.
The rebels later contacted his family and threatened to kill him if his father refused to join FDLR.
When Nkurunziza managed to communicate with his father, he urged him not to accept the group’s demands, even though he knew the decision could put his own life at risk.
“Be strong, my father. I will follow their rules and do whatever they tell me so that I can protect your life. I have already reached this point. If I die, let me die, but the life I am living here is extremely difficult,” he told his father.
From a rebel camp to a new beginning
After enduring months of hardship under the control of FDLR, Nkurunziza eventually found an opportunity to escape. His journey out of the rebel-controlled forests marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life.
Instead of facing rejection, he received assistance that helped him return to normal life. He was supported through reintegration programmes, acquired skills that helped him become self-reliant and was encouraged to pursue his passion for music.
Today, Nkurunziza’s story stands as a reminder that even after experiencing unimaginable hardship, survivors can find opportunities to rebuild their lives when they receive support and a second chance.
Nkurunziza says that when he arrived at an FDLR camp, he found many other children, both boys and girls. Some were around his age, while others were even younger.
The children were used to carry out various activities for the armed group, including stealing from civilians, transporting supplies, collecting items needed by fighters and participating in violent operations. Some were also forced to bring women and girls who were subjected to sexual violence.
Nkurunziza says that before witnessing such acts himself, he had never believed that such cruelty could exist.
“Before I saw it with my own eyes, I thought such things were impossible. But sometimes you would see young people being sent to bring women and girls, and they would return saying, ‘My commander, we have brought them,’” he recalled.
After three weeks at the camp, Nkurunziza and his friend John began military training that lasted three months. He expected to be taught how to use weapons and become a soldier, but he says much of the training focused on spreading hatred and extremist ideology.
“What surprised me was that I thought I was going to become a strong soldier who would receive serious military training. Instead, we were taught to hate the country, hate Tutsi people and hate the RPF,” he said.
According to Nkurunziza, the recruits were told that Tutsi people and supporters of the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) were their enemies.
They were also told that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi had not happened as it was documented and were encouraged to prepare to overthrow the Rwandan government.
The teachings made Nkurunziza question why the group spent so much time spreading hatred instead of preparing them for legitimate military responsibilities.
Forced into combat and mineral exploitation
After completing the training, Nkurunziza was sent on FDLR operations. He was involved in attacks, raids against civilians and missions to extract minerals.
He says it was painful to see senior members of the group sending their own children to schools in cities such as Goma, Beni and Butembo, while abducted children like him were forced into armed activities.
“We would go and steal minerals and bring them, while at the same time hearing that their own children were studying in Goma, Beni and Butembo. We were young children who had been denied the kind of life their children were enjoying,” he said.
Nkurunziza says refusing orders often resulted in severe punishment, including beatings, being suspended in the air as a form of torture, or other forms of abuse.
Whenever he refused to carry out certain orders, such as bringing a woman or performing tasks assigned to him, his commanders would contact his family and threaten to kill him.
“When you live with constant pain and suffering, there comes a time when you become numb to it,” he said.
Despite enduring extreme hardship, Nkurunziza says he continued to persevere because he remained determined to protect his parents and keep them alive.
The man who helped him find a way out
Six months after being taken to an FDLR camp, Nkurunziza met a soldier named Harerimana, who already knew his family.
Harerimana asked him how he had ended up with the armed group. Nkurunziza briefly explained how he had been abducted and the suffering he had endured since being taken into the forest.
Harerimana later asked Nkurunziza’s commander to allow him and his friend John to accompany him and help transport supplies. However, his real intention was to take them away from the camp so he could listen carefully to their story.
After learning what Nkurunziza had gone through, Harerimana advised him not to attempt an escape without careful planning.
“My young brother, be patient and continue enduring this suffering for now. If you try to escape without a proper plan, you will be killed. I will go and tell your parents how they should behave so that they do not end up in the same situation,” Harerimana told him.
As time passed, Nkurunziza opened up to Harerimana about his desire to leave the forest and escape the life he had been forced to live.
“I am already living a life that feels as if I died long ago. I am alive, but it feels like I am already dead. How can I continue living like this?” he asked.
That was when Harerimana began preparing their escape.
He instructed Nkurunziza and John to carefully study the routes used by FDLR fighters during operations, identify the times when security was weakest, count the number of soldiers guarding different areas and look for possible escape paths.
In December 2009, Harerimana finally told them that the time to leave had arrived.
A dangerous escape between life and death
Harerimana once again asked Nkurunziza and John to accompany him on what appeared to be a mission to collect supplies.
After moving far away from the FDLR camp, he asked them to hand over their weapons, but then quickly changed his mind and decided to give them more ammunition instead.
“No, my children, that will not work. The journey ahead will not be easy. Instead, let me give you more ammunition because you still have a difficult task ahead,” he told them.
He gave each of them two magazines of ammunition and showed them the mountain routes they needed to follow.
They began their journey at around 10:00 a.m. and continued walking until night fell.
At around 11:00 p.m. or midnight, they encountered an ambush by armed men. A gunfight broke out, forcing Nkurunziza and John to retreat and hide behind rocks.
They later discovered that FDLR had already realised they had escaped and was trying to prevent them from reaching the positions of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO.
That night, they survived by taking turns sleeping. One would rest for about 20 minutes while the other remained awake to watch over their surroundings.
At dawn the following day, they saw a MONUSCO base in the distance. However, reaching it meant passing through another heavily guarded position.
This time, Nkurunziza and John decided they had no choice but to move forward.
“We had no other option. We decided to fight our way through, knowing that we would either die or survive,” Nkurunziza recalled.
Although they were still young and wearing oversized, worn-out boots, they gathered their courage and fought to break through the forces surrounding them.
Nkurunziza says that in that moment, he found strength he never knew he had.
“I fought with determination. They used to tell me that I was an Interahamwe, that I was a Hutu, and many other things. But at that moment, none of that mattered. I found a strength that I do not know where God placed inside me,” he said.
They eventually broke through the ambush and ran towards the MONUSCO base.
When they arrived, they raised their hands to show they had surrendered. Their weapons were taken away, and they were received and protected by MONUSCO forces.
A helicopter later transported them to Goma, from where they were taken by boat to Bukavu, a location far from FDLR-controlled areas.
For Nkurunziza, that journey marked the beginning of a new chapter, a move from captivity and fear towards freedom and the possibility of rebuilding his life.
The family tragedy that pushed Nkurunziza to return home
On his second day in Bukavu, Nkurunziza was approached by a former fighter who delivered devastating news: his family had been killed.
The revelation left him overwhelmed with grief.
“I became silent. I reflected and cried. But before I could finish crying, I asked him, ‘Were they all killed?’” Nkurunziza recalled.
He was told that the information available suggested that all members of his family could have lost their lives. At that moment, Nkurunziza began wondering where he could go next.
For years, FDLR had taught him that the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) were enemies, that the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) killed people, and that Rwanda was not a place where he could find safety.
However, he also knew that staying in the Democratic Republic of Congo exposed him to the possibility of being captured again or losing his life.
He eventually made the decision to travel to the country his parents had always told him was his homeland.
“I told myself, ‘Let me go to the place my parents said I belong to. Let me go there, even if I die there. If I am killed by a Rwandan, then there is nothing else I can do,’” he said.
A Rwanda different from what he had been told
When Nkurunziza arrived at the border in Rusizi District, he was filled with fear.
One of the first things that surprised him was hearing people speak the same language he spoke.
While living with FDLR, he had been taught that his language was “Igihutu”. However, after arriving in Rwanda, he discovered that it was simply Kinyarwanda, the language spoken by Rwandans.
“I heard people speaking like me, yet I had been taught that I spoke Igihutu. They told me, ‘No, this is Kinyarwanda,’” he said.
Nkurunziza expected government officials to receive him with anger and accuse him of being part of FDLR.
Instead, he was welcomed, provided with support and taken to a centre designed to help former combatants return to normal life.
Despite the warm reception, he initially suspected that it was a trick.
He quietly told his friend John:
“Look at this deception. Are they not going to kill us?”
The two were taken to Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre, where former fighters receive support to reintegrate into society.
Nkurunziza says it was there that he gradually realised that he was safe.
When he arrived, he was in poor condition, with dirty clothes, overgrown hair, worn-out clothing and damaged shoes.
He was given a haircut, new clothes, shoes and food. Because he was still a child, he was separated from adults and transferred to Nyarubande in Musanze District.
“When I arrived there, I found a life that looked like children living with their own families. It felt as if they were being cared for by their parents. I told myself, ‘I am not going to die. I have found a real parent. Even though I no longer have my own parents, I can still have a future,’” he said.
Learning to live as a Rwandan
At Nyarubande, Nkurunziza began receiving lessons aimed at helping him overcome the hateful ideas that had been instilled in him by FDLR.
He was taught that he was first and foremost a Rwandan and that he should not define himself by ethnic identity, but instead build his life around unity and coexistence.
He received guidance from teachers, trauma counselors and local leaders who supported his recovery and reintegration.
Later, he was issued a Rwandan national identity card.
The Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission gave him an opportunity to choose a profession he wanted to pursue.
He chose to study hospitality in Kayonza District.
Afterwards, those supporting him asked whether he had any talent he wanted to develop. He chose music.
With the support of music trainer Intore Semanza Jean Baptiste, Nkurunziza travelled to Kigali in 2014.
He stayed at a hotel near Sainte Famille, where he was introduced to producer Bob Pro, who helped him record his songs.
He was given the opportunity to produce 12 audio songs and 12 music videos.
“Although I had lost my parents, I had found a parent — a truly good country. I was satisfied,” he said.
Through his music, Nkurunziza wanted to reach young people who were still carrying guns in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and encourage them to abandon violence and return home.
A father, employee and artist
After completing his reintegration programme, Nkurunziza began looking for employment.
Today, he works in the department of marketing at Airtel Rwanda in Musanze District.
He has also built a family of his own and become a father. He continues to pursue music whenever opportunities arise, using it both as a passion and an additional source of income.
Nkurunziza’s story highlights the devastating impact that conflict and extremist ideology can have on children. However, it also demonstrates how rehabilitation, support and opportunities can transform the life of someone who was once deprived of hope.
He says his experience taught him an important lesson: people should not blindly believe everything they are told about a country, a community or a group of people. Instead, they should seek the truth through careful reflection and understanding.
Sharing a message with young people, Nkurunziza said: “Young people, whenever you hear a word or a name such as the RPF, take time to think carefully and understand it.”
He added: “There is one important lesson: we must learn resilience. We must remain strong and never give up.”
For a child born in exile, abducted, forced to carry a gun and taught to hate his own country, resilience eventually came to mean something different: surviving, rebuilding his life and using the second chance he received to ensure that his future would no longer be controlled by war.
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