January 24, 2024 – Konjit Sitotaw
‘This is a pandemic’: Ethiopia’s Oromia region gripped by surge in kidnappings
በኦሮሚያ ክልል በርካታ አካባቢዎች ሰላማዊ ሰዎች ላይ የሚፈጸሙ የእገታ ድርጊቶች መስፋፋታቸውን ዘ ጋርዲያን ምንጮችን ጠቅሶ ዘግቧል። አራት ሰዎችን ማነጋገሩን የጠቀሰው ዘገባው፣ ሰዎቹ የታገቱ ቤተሰቦቻቸውን ለማስለቀቅ ከ20 ሺህ 500 ሺህ ብር ለማስለቀቂያ መክፈላቸውን እንደነገሩት ገልጧል።
የአማጺው የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ሠራዊት የተለያዩ አንጃዎች፣ በእገታ ስለመሠማራታቸው በቂ ምልክቶች እንዳሉ ምንጮች መግለጣቸውን ዜና ምንጩ ጠቁሟል። ቡድኑ ሰዎችን ጠልፌ ገንዘብ በመጠየቅ ድርጊት ተሠማርቼ አላውቅም በማለት ያስተባብላል።
First it was rebel groups using abduction for political aims, but in a broken economy collecting ransoms is seen as easy money and now anyone can be a target
The gunmen came for Alemetu when she was sleeping. They marched her out of her home in Ethiopia’s Oromia region and took her to a disused school in the countryside, where she was held hostage for four weeks.
About 40 fighters were living at the school, although hundreds of men passed through. Alemetu, who was pregnant when she was taken, said her captors beat her with a horsewhip. On one occasion, she was tied up and suspended upside down from a tree for several hours, an ordeal that left deep psychological and physical scars.