Ngabo, Léonce
Summary of Oral History
In May of 1972, Léonce Ngabo said the school principal entered his classroom with a priest. He said the principal read the names of nine students, and one of those names was in fact, his name. Ngabo explained he and the children were removed from the classroom and as he tried to make jokes, he heard his classmates crying as police officers screamed at them. He was then taken to a prison cell where he was forced to surrender his personal belongings and was repeatedly beaten with a large stick. He said a priest questioned if he was Hutu or Tutsi. He convinced the priest he was Tutsi and his life was spared. His eight classmates, however, did not survive the interrogation. After escaping death, Ngabo said that the priest would make children wear a blue cross or red cross to differentiate if they were Hutu or Tutsi. Decades after being beaten, losing loved ones to genocide, and witnessing his family home burn to the ground, he hopes for a better future for Burundi. Ngabo wants everyone to remember that they are all first and foremost Burundians, and the young people in Burundi need to develop this beautiful country.