A group of 8 traditional dancers of the ‘Inganzo Ngari’ have gone missing after taking part in a Dance Festival in New York. The group of 20 Rwandans had traveled to the US to showcase their talents at the festival.
The confirmation of their disappearance reached Rwanda authorities on Friday last week.
The Rwandan magazine, Igihe, reported the names of those who vanished while on US tour and said that the group of 20 had pledged to respect all terms and rules of their travel to the US. The head of the group said that ‘they had represented Africa in general, and Rwanda in particular’.
The traditional Rwandan troupe was in the United States to attend the 42nd edition of Africa Dance Festival which was taking place in the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
THE BIG PICTURE: This latest case of Africans vanishing while in the West has been reported even for Burundians Robotics teens reported to have been gone missing while in the United States, where some were reported to have crossed the border into Canada. This also brings up the disappearance of a group of Rwandan players and coach at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia in April 2018.
Rwandan officials acknowledged the seriousness of the matter but urged calm until the actual details of the dancers’ whereabouts were established, one magazine reported.
Igihe reports that the disappearance of the eight Rwandans occurred gradually, with some four missing, other 3 following in vanishing, and the other one went missing while in the Airport getting ready to be back in Rwanda.
The head of the group says that they had waited for 2hours in the search of their missing comrades but in vain, then ultimately they were only 12 traditional dancers who boarded the plane at the airport.
The ‘loyal and patriotic members’ who did not vanish apologize to their fellow Rwandans for this latest case of vanishing in the US since it tarnishes the image of Rwanda in the world.
It should be noted that the group was suspected of vanishing upon their arrival in the US, then they saw their passports being taken and held at the airport in order to recover them while on their way back to Rwanda.
As you can see on the pics , them guys were swearing in before leaving the country promising that they will faithful respect the rules and law in which one of them state that they should have been returned to their mother country on the right time
Igihe reported that they have been given a temporary card showing that they were participating in the dancing event in the US, thus avoid their potential disappearance.
Nevertheless, the traditional dancers have not been afraid of going missing even with their passports were still held at the airport. The passports are still at the airport waiting to be handed to the Rwandan embassy in the United States, Igihe added.