At least 100 individuals, among them students, were abducted for ransom last week in Ethiopia’s turbulent areas, which have experienced intermittent conflict since the conclusion of the civil war in Tigray, the U.S. ambassador to Addis Ababa reported on Monday.
Despite the peace agreement signed in November 2022 that has brought some stability to Tigray, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government continues to face challenges in securing other regions.
According to the United Nations, over 1,300 people were killed across Ethiopia last year, with the majority of the violence impacting the Amhara and Oromia regions.
“Recent and repeated abductions in Oromia and Amhara regions underscore how persistent conflict empowers criminals and erodes the rule of law,” U.S. Ambassador Ervin Massinga stated on social media platform X.
“Last week, more than 100 students and passengers were kidnapped for ransom,” he further noted.
According to a student from Debark University who later escaped and sought refuge in a forest, on Wednesday, unidentified gunmen halted three buses approximately 120 km (75 miles) north of the capital Addis Ababa in the Oromia region.
“It was terrifying and shocking. They began beating the passengers with sticks and forcing them out of the bus,” he recounted.
He reported that the assailants spoke Oromo and sported similar hairstyles to fighters from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel faction, which the UN has accused of perpetrating killings, property damage, sexual assault, and kidnappings.
“He informed Reuters that the kidnappers are demanding families pay as much as 1 million birr ($17,500) to secure the release of the captives,” he stated, preferring not to be named.
Officials from the OLA, local Oromia administration, and the central government did not promptly reply to requests for comment from Reuters.
Asmamaw Zegeye, the president of Debark University, verified the incident but did not offer additional information.
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