God gave me the strength to get out of my home during the night without fearing the people who had weapons. Someone who has decided to kill becomes like an animal. He can kill anyone he meets. I found that strength because he was an old man. He has been our neighbour for years and we never saw anything wrong in him. He was guilty of nothing. He was a person like me and we shared everything. I could not accept that he be killed while we gave fire to each other. That is why I was ready to risk my life to defend old Makoro. God helped us and he did not die that day.

Interview by Maziar Bahari
Translated by Tatien Nkeshimana
Edited by David Shem-Tov