Ruyigi, Burundi - Richard Ciza was alerted by neighbours last week that a posse was looking for him. He ran and hid for two days in the forest of eastern Burundi.
The 19-year-old is an albino and knows exactly the kind of death he would have suffered if the marauding horde had caught up with him.
"Some neighbours came to warn me that a group of killers was after me and so I ran like the wind, completely terrified," said Ciza who lives in Ruyigi province.
In recent weeks, Ruyigi has seen a gruesome string of murders and mutilations of albinos, whose body parts are sold to witch doctors.
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"People say that the body parts taken from albinos are sold in Tanzania. They put them on gold mines and that brings the gold to the surface, then you just need to collect it," said Ciza, fear evident in his pale blue eyes.
"Some fishermen also use the parts to bait large fish they think have gold in their bellies."
Still in shock, Ciza spoke to AFP from the safety of Ruyigi province chief prosecutor Nicodeme Gahimbare's personal residence.
The official's home has been turned into an albino safehouse, surrounded by a three metre (10-foot) wall, where some 25 albinos from the all over the region have taken shelter.
"We held a crisis meeting with the administration, the police, local MPs and people representing the albinos... We've decided to gather all 45 known albinos in Ruyigi to guarantee their security," Gahimbare said.
On September 22, a 16-year-old albino girl by the name of Spes was attacked in her village of Nyabitsinda.
She was dismembered and her body parts disappeared. A few days later, it was the turn of a man in the village of Bweru. Officials have reported two other recent murders in other parts of the country.
Police have established that the limbs, organs and blood of the albinos were smuggled into neighbouring Tanzania and sold to local sorcerers who use them to concoct lucky charms.
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