As the genocide against the Tutsi continued, on May 7, 1994, Celestin Ugirashebuja, the Mayor of Kigoma sector in Nyanza district, convened a meeting alongside fellow officials, falsely proclaiming peace in the area. They told Hutu individuals harbouring Tutsi to release them so they can return to their homes. ALSO READ: May 6, 1994: UN declines proposal to send more troops to Rwanda Earlier on May 7, 1994, assailants descended upon several residences, forcibly extracting Tutsi inhabitants. Among the targeted homes was that of a resident named Mathias Rwabuhungu. Here, Tutsi were rounded up and taken to the Adventist Church, where a number of their counterparts were gathering. En route to the church, the attackers raided the residence of Eustache Bizimana, seizing Marisiyana Kabayiro, her daughter Agnes Gasengayire, and her two grandchildren, along with two other children, before proceeding to the church. ALSO READ: May 5, 1994: Catholic nun’s letter leads to massacre of Tutsi refugees at Sovu Monastery At the church, approximately 130 Tutsi were brutally murdered by the assailants. Continuing their spree, the killers reached the home of another resident named Rogatien Gasinzigwa, where they killed his wife Immaculee Mukanyarwaya and their three children, before advancing to the Nkinda area which was inhabited by Tutsi from the Abagamba and Abanyoni clans. Here, they joined forces with additional assailants from locations such as Mpanga, Rushoka, and Mukingo, launching assaults on numerous residences. Beginning with the house of an elderly man named Anasthase, the killers murdered 39 Tutsi who were hiding there, and then proceeded to another house belonging to Francois Rukangarajoro, where they killed 36 Tutsi. On Mount Nkinda, approximately 200 Tutsi fell victim to the Interahamwe. ALSO READ: Survivors condemn release of Laurent Bucyibaruta In Gatagara, assailants from the Mukingo sector collaborated with local perpetrators to massacre women and children, dumping their bodies into a pit at the residence of Modeste Muhiza. Meanwhile, at Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci in Kibeho, Interahamwe, aided by Hutu students, launched a vicious assault on Tutsi students, resulting in numerous deaths. The attack was preceded by hatred and suspicion towards Tutsi students following false accusations that they had poisoned porridge in an attempt to kill their Hutu counterparts earlier on May 4. On May 4, 1994, a meeting was convened supposedly to address concerns of the Tutsi students, but it served as a guise to restrict their escape. At the meeting, the former governor of Nyamagabe, Laurent Bucyibaruta, accused the Tutsi students of listening to Inkotanyi songs on Radio Muhabura.
