Aboke

{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox settlement   |official_name = Aboke |other_name = |native_name = |nickname = |settlement_type = Municipality |motto =  |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = Uganda |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_map_caption =Location in Uganda  |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{flag|Uganda}} |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Northern Region of Uganda |subdivision_type2 = Sub-region |subdivision_name2 = Lango sub-region |subdivision_type3 = District |subdivision_name3 = Kole District |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 =  |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = |leader_title1 = |leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title = |established_date = |established_title2 = |established_date2 = |established_title3 = |established_date3 =  |area_magnitude = |unit_pref =Imperial |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi =  |population_as_of =2024 Census |population_footnotes =<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uganda/cities|title=The population of all Ugandan cities and towns with more than 15,000 inhabitants according to census results and latest official projections|publisher=Citypopulation.de Quoting Uganda Bureau of Statistics |date=10 July 2025 |author=Uganda Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> |population_note = |population_total = 29469 |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_metro = |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title =Ethnicities |population_blank1 = |population_blank2_title =Religions |population_blank2 = |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi =  |timezone = |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|02|21|28|N|32|40|59|E|region:UG|display=inline}} |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = 1042 |elevation_ft =  |postal_code_type = |postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = |blank_info = |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Aboke''' is a town in the Kole District of the Northern Region of Uganda. It was the location of the Aboke abductions in October 1996.<ref name="1R">{{cite web|title=Who are the Aboke girls? | url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1223964/aboke-girls |newspaper=New Vision |date=27 March 2009 | author=Conan Businge |access-date=24 April 2020 | location=Kampala}}</ref>

==Location== Aboke is located in ''Akwiridid Parish'', Aboke sub-county, Kole District, in the Lango sub-region, in Northern Uganda. It is approximately {{convert|29|km|0}}, by road, north-west of the city of Lira, the largest urban centre in the sub-region.<ref name="2R">{{google maps|title=Driving Distance Between Lira And Aboke In Uganda |access-date=24 April 2020 | url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lira/Aboki/@2.3070129,32.6449254,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x1770b09fcc01830f:0xddfcd30f83eb2797!2m2!1d32.8874067!2d2.2580829!1m5!1m1!1s0x1770eadb3972543f:0x51599e9464693153!2m2!1d32.6828376!2d2.3565111!3e0}}</ref> This is approximately {{convert|73|km|0}}, by road, southeast of the city of Gulu, the largest urban centre in Northern Uganda.<ref name="3R">{{google maps| url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Gulu/Aboki/@2.4933297,32.2011169,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x1771a65c0fc42a27:0xce6ef3d1c3d80e06!2m2!1d32.2880726!2d2.7724038!1m5!1m1!1s0x1770eadb3972543f:0x51599e9464693153!2m2!1d32.6828376!2d2.3565111!3e0 | title=Driving Distance Between Gulu And Aboke In Uganda | access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref> The geographical coordinates of Aboke are:02°21'28.0"N, 32°40'59.0"E (Latitude:2.357778; Longitude:32.683056).<ref name="4R">{{google maps| url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/2%C2%B021'28.0%22N+32%C2%B040'59.0%22E/@2.3317578,32.70074,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d2.3577778!4d32.6830556 |title=Location of Aboke, Kole District, Northern Region, Uganda |access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref> Aboke sits at an average elevation of {{convert|1042|m|0}} above sea level.<ref name="5R">{{cite web|title=Elevation of Aboke, Uganda |url=https://www.floodmap.net/Elevation/ElevationMap/?gi=235567 | publisher=Floodmap.net |date=24 April 2020 |author=Flood Map | access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref>

==Overview== Aboke lies on the old Lira-Gulu Road, just north of the ''Okole River''. The town is the location of the five-parish ''Aboke sub-county''. The parishes in Aboke sub-county are: (a) Akwiridid (b) Apach (c) Apuru (d) Ogwangacuma and (e) Opeta.<ref name="6R">{{cite web|title=The Parishes In Aboke Subcounty, Kole District, Uganda |url=http://www.lcmt.org/uganda/kole/aboke/akwiridid | date=24 April 2020 |publisher=Land Conflict Mapping Tool | access-date=24 April 2020 |author=Land Conflict Mapping Tool}}</ref>

The town is also the location of ''St. Mary's College Aboke Girls School'', a residential girls-only secondary school administered by Italian nuns. It is at this school that the Aboke abductions occurred on the early morning of 10 October 1996.<ref name="7R">{{cite web|title=When Kony Turned Aboke Students Into Wives |newspaper=New Vision |date=10 October 2019 | url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1508403/kony-rebels-aboke-students |author=New Vision |access-date=24 April 2020 |location=Kampala}}</ref>

==Abductions== {{main|Aboke abductions}}

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the rebel group which started in January 1987 by Joseph Kony, began as a liberation group aimed at removing the National Resistance Movement led by Yoweri Museveni from power.<ref name="8R">{{cite web| url=https://www.theguardian.com/katine/2007/oct/20/about.uganda | title=Background: the Lord's Resistance Army |date=20 October 2007 |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Xan Rice |access-date=24 April 2020 |location=London}}</ref>

In the early 1990s the LRA began to receive support and supplies from the government of Sudan at that time. The character of the LRA changed. The rebels began to target civilians, mutilating those they thought to be government sympathisers and abducting children as child soldiers and sex slaves.<ref name="8R"/>

In the early morning hours of 10 October 1996, an estimated 300 rebels of the LRA invaded St Mary’s College Secondary School Aboke and abducted 139 young girls aged 13 to 16 years of age. Sister Rachele Frassera, an Italian nun and deputy headmistress at the school, followed the rebels and negotiated the release of 109 girls. They kept the other 30 as sex slaves for their commanders.<ref name="7R"/><ref name="8R"/><ref name="9R">{{cite web |title=Recollections of the Aboke girls abduction |url=https://observer.ug/component/content/article?id=23472:recollections-of-the-aboke-girls-abduction |newspaper=The Observer (Uganda) |date=31 January 2013 |author=Bamuturaki Musinguzi |access-date=24 April 2020 |location=Kampala |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723130745/https://observer.ug/component/content/article?id=23472:recollections-of-the-aboke-girls-abduction |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Four of the girls died in captivity while the remaining 26 eventually returned to their families in Uganda. Many had babies fathered by the rebels, including Kony. Catherine Ajok escaped on 14 December 2008, when the Uganda People's Defence Force bombed the LRA base in Garamba National Park, DR Congo. She arrived at their base in Dungu in March 2009.<ref name="7R"/>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == *[https://ugandaradionetwork.net/story/former-aboke-girls-students-in-fundraising-drive-to-commemorate-lra-victims- Former Aboke Students In Fundraising Drive] As of 11 October 2016.

{{Authority control}} {{Kole District}} {{coord|03|28|26|N|32|04|04|E|region:UG_type:city|display=title}}

Category:Kole District Category:Populated places in Northern Region, Uganda Category:Cities in the Great Rift Valley Category:Lango sub-region