Abducted by the LRA

1 - Couple split by rebel group

Sophia Akot and Victor Okilo had to spend the first two years of their marriage apart after being abducted and separated by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

Sophia, who is 27 but was 23 when the abduction occurred, said she was lucky not to be made a sex slave, or a so called "wife", for one of the rebel soldiers when abducted.

She said: "Young girls would get defiled, but older women like me were seen to be sick with HIV."

She recalled that after the abduction the LRA wanted to kill her baby,who was crying constantly."

They wanted to kill it and throw it in the bush, but others pleaded for them not to, so they just beat me and then told me to keep on walking."

Her role was to carry things and help run the domestic side of the LRA camps, and after a year she managed to escape with her baby who is now in primary school.

Victor (32) was not given a gun because they said they could not trust him – as he is an older man, so they forced him to act as a slave carrying heavy equipment.

He said this has left him with many longterm back and other injuries.

"They used to beat me up very badly with guns and other objects if I fell to the ground or got tired," he said.

Despite the fear of being killed for trying too escape, Victor managed to run away in 2005 and was reunited with Sophia back at their village in Gulu, in northern Uganda.

He said: "We were delighted to both be alive and to see each other again."

They both appeared delighted to be home as they spoke to me in their village.

They have children aged between 17 months and 13 and hope to be able to afford to give them a good education - which is among the most sought after service for children in northern Uganda.

2 - Forced to kill neighbour to survive

Robert Engola recalled how he was forced to beat to death a man he knew from his village after the unfortunate person fell to the ground while carrying equipment for the LRA.

The 23 year old said: "We were carrying weapons and food and told that if anyone falls he will be killed.

"One of the men fell and I was told to kill him.

"They said if I did not they would kill me."

He had to beat him until he died.

His older brother, Fabious Okello, (33) was also abducted but separated from Robert.

He was also a carrier and was beaten regularly and witnessed horrific massacres.

He was eventually beaten up by LRA soldiers for being tired with the end of a rifle until he fell unconscious on a road where they left him for dead.

"They thought I was dead," he said.

He eventually awoke and made his away to the Kiolongo hospital - which is located at a mission below a tall mountain that has a cross that glows at night and was used by LRA escapees to find their way home.

While at the hospital - which is still used today and powered by a generator - he wrote to his brother, who had already escaped and was delighted to hear he was still alive.

Robert said he hopes to be able to afford to go to university to study mechanical engineering.

He pleaded that people in Ireland and other countries help him and others through charities like Trocaire and Caritas so that they can again grow their own food and so that they can get a good education.

He said: "Uganda is a good place.

"If I succeed, God help me, in getting to university, I will work to make Uganda a peaceful country."

3 Baby tied to a tree under hot sun by LRA

James Masidio of the Madi tribe in north west Uganda made a miraculous escape from the LRA not long after they captured him during a bloody raid on his village.

He was given a lift home by Sean Farrell from Trocaire to see his parents for the first time in seven years since the incident.

I was sitting behind this remarkable character as we drove in a landrover towards Gulu, and managed to speak with him as we stopped to look at the Nile River from a bridge.

He was well dressed in a neat white shirt and trousers with shiny black shoes - anxcious to see his family.

James minds a house belonging to a neighbour of Sean Farrell in the Uganda capital Kampala - and is described as a very trustworthy and polite young man who has gone through a lot of hardship.

James told me it was amazing that they even survived the attack that forced him to leave home.

He said while walking with the LRA after they captured him he saw them carry out some sick attacks – that included them tying a crying baby to a tree under the hot sun, leaving it to die.

He saw the child dead on the tree as they walked by days later with its skin dried and burned.

"They did some terrible things and I wanted to escape.

"All they do is kill, that is all that is in their mind," he said.

As they passed a river he suddenly ran into it and swam hard and fast while dodging bullets.

He said: "They were shooting at me. I could hear the bullets, but I made it. I am a very good swimmer."

The 24 year old said he hopes that Uganda can find a lasting peace.