At just 14 years old, Celestin Nahimana was forcibly recruited by the genocidal militia FDLR in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For years, he endured mistreatment, was indoctrinated with genocide ideology, and forced into illegal activities and combat.

Reports from various organisations, including the UN Security Council, have condemned the abduction and use of child soldiers by the FDLR, which has committed crimes against humanity for decades.

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Operating in DRC for the past 30 years, the FDLR is a UN-sanctioned militia group, largely composed of individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Nahimana, born in Nyagatare District in Rwanda’s Eastern Province, grew up watching his parents travel back and forth to DRC for agricultural work. During one such trip to Masisi, North Kivu, his father fell ill and passed away, prompting his mother to stay behind permanently.

Nahimana, the sixth of eight children, was among the few taken to DR Congo by his parents.

"Before the war between the DRC government and M23 broke out, I was a student,” he recounted. His recruitment into FDLR was not voluntary.

"I used to sell airtime after school along the roadside. One day, they passed by, forced me to carry their sacks of food, and made me follow them. They were taking new recruits for military training. They refused to let us go back.”

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Brutality and indoctrination

Now 17, Nahimana revealed to The New Times that FDLR fighters taught them weaponary and instilled in them a deep hatred for the Rwandan government. Their goal was clear: train quickly to fight M23 and ultimately attack Rwanda.

Attempting to escape was nearly impossible. He witnessed fellow recruits being executed for trying to flee.

"After completing our military training in Masisi and moving to Nyamuragira, five children attempted to escape. Two were executed in the camp, and three others, caught in Mugogo, were also killed,” he said.

The FDLR leaders labeled them as traitors and made an example of them to deter others.

Nahimana was among 169 recruits assigned to Commando de Recherche et d'Action en Profondeur (CRAP), an elite FDLR special force. Besides fighting, they were forced to steal livestock, which was then sold by the militia leaders, while the recruits received nothing in return except occasional boots.

"If we dared to ask for money, they would beat us,” he said.

A desperate escape

Whenever he visited his mother, Nahimana had the chance to speak with his elder brother via telephone, who had remained in Rwanda. His brother reassured him that contrary to FDLR’s propaganda, returnees were not executed in Rwanda. Instead, he provided directions on how to safely cross the border.

It took him time to summon the courage to escape, but an opportunity arose in December 2024 amid intense fighting between M23 and the Congolese army. One night, after a day on the battlefield, he quietly laid down his weapon, changed clothes, and walked away unnoticed.

On January 2, he reached a MONUSCO camp, which facilitated his repatriation to Rwanda a week later.

"I did not see anything bad in Rwanda. It is completely different from how they described it,” he said.

A new beginning

Nahimana is currently undergoing reintegration at Mutobo, a center run by the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission. The facility provides ex-combatants with civic education to counter radical ideologies and equip them with vocational skills for self-reliance.

Since its establishment in 2001, the program has completed 72 demobilization cohorts and is currently preparing two more. To date, it has rehabilitated 12,489 former combatants, offering them a second chance at life beyond the battlefield.