Ethiopia Student Captives Still Detained Despite Global Outcry
The act of abduction has evolved into a thriving business venture within the Oromo Prosperity Party. This criminal activity has seen a rise in recent years, causing concern among the community and authorities alike. The perpetrators behind these kidnappings are exploiting the vulnerability of individuals for financial gain, posing a significant threat to the safety and security of the region. It is imperative for law enforcement agencies to take decisive action to combat this growing trend and protect the citizens from falling victim to such heinous crimes.
The international community is increasingly concerned about the abduction of university students by armed individuals in Gebre Guracha, a town in Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state. There is a growing demand for information regarding the well-being and whereabouts of these students. More than one hundred university students were taken captive by members of the Oromo Liberation Front last week, and they remain in captivity. There are unverified claims that the kidnappers have released students who are of Oromo ethnicity.
Despite international outcry, Ethiopian authorities continue to detain students and other civilians, particularly in the Amhara and Tigray regions. The situation has drawn criticism from global entities, including the United States, the European Union, and Canada, all of which have called for independent investigations into alleged human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings (Human Rights Watch) (Addis Standard).
Relatives of the hostages informed APA on Wednesday that they have been receiving ransom demands of up to one million birr ($17.3 thousand) for the release of each student. They expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s lack of action in securing the release of the captives. Many individuals are now questioning whether the Oromia security forces were involved in the kidnappings.
A family member of one of the captives, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated, “We have been contacted by government officials, but so far, we have not seen any concrete steps taken. It seems that the only viable option is to raise funds and pay the ransom.” The federal government has not issued a statement, and it remains uncertain whether any efforts are being made to secure the students’ release.
Approximately six students were able to escape, and they have alleged that they were abducted by a militant ethnic Oromo Nationalist Group known as “Shane,” which identifies itself as the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The abduction of civilians for ransom has contributed to heightened insecurity in the Oromia region of Ethiopia.
TH
I ain’t surprised by this boldface denial. There is no one single ‘liberation’ army. The rogue band thugs who roam in Shewa region don’t take orders from those wandering aimlessly in Wallagaa. There must be more than 5 groups who claim to be ‘liberation army’. Don’t you dare call these scabs ‘Oromos’. Don’t even think about it. It is the same situation with the groups in Amhara region. There is no centralized command which one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. You add a weak or unwilling regime in Addis/Finfinne to the mix, innocent citizens are the ones who have been paying the heavy price. This savage act of kidnappings will be even more common. What left me seething in anger is, what these thugs are doing to the female abductees. They rape them in turns. It is reported that the leader of the thugs in Wallagaa had taken some of those kidnapped years ago as his mistresses. By force that is. If the female abductees refuses that has proven to be a death sentence. So, don’t you dare call these hoodlums ‘liberation’ army.
የታገቱትን ተማሪዎች በተመለከተ…
• ኦቦ ኃይሉ ጎንፋ (ኮሬ ነጌኛ)
~ የታገቱት 167 ተማሪዎች ናቸው። 160 ውን ተዋግተን አስለቅቀናል። የቀሩን 7 ተማሪዎች ብቻ ናቸው። አረጋገጡ ነው የሚለው የአሻም ዜና።
• የኦሮሚያ ክልል ደግሞ ያው (ሽመልስ አብዲሳ ዋናው ኦነግ ሸኔ የኦሮሞ ብልፅግና ማለት ነው) እንዲህ አለ።
~ ስለታገቱ ተማሪዎች ምንም መረጃ የለኝም። አላቅም። ስለምን እገታ ነው የምታወሩት? እንዲያውም እኔ ራሴ እናቴን አግተውብኝ 10 ሚልዮን ብር ለምኜ ነው ከፍዬ ያስፈታኋት።
• የታገቱት ልጆች ቤተሰቦች
~ የተፈቱ፣ የተለቀቁም ልጆች የሉም። እንዲያውም አጋቾቹ በሰው 1 ሚልዮን አጠቃላይ 167 ሚልዮን ብር ክፈሉ ብለውናል። ልንከፍል ሕዝብ መለመን ስንጀምር ደግሞ መንግሥት ተብዬው መጥቶ ልመና መለመን አይቻልም ብሎ ይከለክለናል። አሁን ልጆቻችን ከሰላሌ ወደ ደምቢዶሎ ሳያዘዋውሩአቸው አልቀረም።
• እሜቴ አሜሪካ…
“…የታገቱት ተማሪዎች ከ100 በላይ ናቸው። በጣም ያሳዝናል። ምፅ ምን ይደረግ? (የታገቱት ዐማራ ስለሆኑ ነው እንጂ ትግሬ ቢሆኑ ነጠላ ዘቅዝቃ ታለቅስ ነበር) ብለው የሚያሙ ሐሜተኞች ግን አሉ።
• የብልጽግና አክቲቪስቶች
~ አዲስ አበባ ዱባይ መስላለች። ኮሪደር ልማቱ ዋው ነው። ባይበላስ፣ ባይጠጣስ ቢቀርም ያሰኛል። አቢቹ ችግኝ ተከለ፣ ቅሪላ ገፋ፣ በሎጬ አለፈ። በሺ ዓመት አንዴ የሚታይ ፔናሊቲም አስቆጠረ። ሃሌሉያ…
“…የአዲስ አበባ ነዋሪዎች
~ ኢትዮጵያ ቡና ዋንጫ በላ። የስቴዲየም ወንበር ዲቻዎች ሰበሩ። የቢራ ዋጋ መጨመሩ ፌር አይደለም። እናስይዝ የዘንድሮውን የአውሮጳ ዋንጫ ቬንዝዋላ ይበላዋል። ቡርኪነፋሶ በሁለተኝነት ያጠቃልላል ብለው ሙግት ላይ ናቸው አሉ። ኮሪደር ልማት።
• ይሄ በእንዲህ እንዳለ አቶ ንጉሡ ጥላሁንስ ምን ብለው ይሆን…?
From Zemedkun Bekele’s Telegram
TO ITTU ABA FARDA; why not your body ABIY does come out and condemn it ? He is silent because he is the rig leader. I notice many times you replace Addis Ababa with FINFINNE are you telling us the future capital city of the greater OROMIA is FINFINNE.
Am I being told that some individuals with the arteries of the regime don’t have a hand in this heinous crime? Look at it this way. If the thugs who carried out the kidnapping live way out in the wilderness, there is no way they could be able to know a bus or buses loaded with students was/were heading to the area. Somebody within the regime working in the area with advance knowledge of the bus itinerary might have tipped the goons with the exact locations and arrival time. That is what makes both Oromia and Amhara completely lawless regions. Such chaos have history of changing normal men into totally abnormal men. In areas where armed groups roam in both Oromia and Amhara regions the normal ups and downs of everyday life have completely departed and replaced by constant fear, danger, suspicion and rage.
Asbe/Ciro/Chiro; Nazret/Adama; Debre/Bishoftu; Afdem/Aware; Orange/Alburtukan; I better stop here.
I inadvertently forgot these. Afdem actually has three of them.
Afdem/Afdhub/Awware
Jijiga/Jigjige
Yegna/Kenya/Kegna
I better stop here otherwise someone is gonna lose their mind and will be seen running naked in Minnesota, Toronto, Oslo, LA, Seattle, Utah, Michigan and Down Under. For now take this home with you.
Addis/Finfinne
Addis/Finfinne
AddisFinfinne.
Isn’t that beautiful.
O my Beloved Ethiopia
With Al your dazzling colors
Allah has shed his grace on thee!!!