Ethiopian Government made arrest over ethnic violence in Somali-Oromo region ; activists bluff it
Credit : EBC
Ethiopian News
borkena
November 25,2017
Ethiopian Government claims that it arrested about 103 individuals in connection with Somali-Oromo ethnic violence which caused the death of more than 50 civilians and the displacement of more than half-million Ethiopians of Oromo origin.
It was Dr. Negeri Lencho, Communications Minister, who disclosed the arrest during press conference in his office yesterday.
According to report by government media, 98 of the suspects are from Oromo region of Ethiopia of which 54 were arrested by Oromo region police and the rest of them by Federal police.
From Ethio-Somali regions, only five are arrested while the number of suspects is 29.
Dr Negeri added that although the conflict is now rare in the Oromo-Somali region, it is not completely stopped.
Details of the individuals who are arrested and the role they played in the conflict is not explained
Oromo regional government did not react to the news yet.
Activists and opposition perspective
Prevailing view in the opposition regarding the Somali-Oromo ethnic violence is that it was an orchestrated conflict. People in the opposition who see the conflict as a manufactured one and speculate collaboration between TPLF political leaders and military generals on the one hand and Somali region Abdi in making the conflict happen.
Jawar Mohammed is a US based activist who tend to show sentiments of radical oromo ethno-nationalism and has a fan base in the diaspora with over a million facebook followers. He called news of the arrest of oromo-somali violence suspects by government “Irresponsible joke!”
In this, he is not alone as many other people in the opposition think the main culprits of the conflict are TPLF leaders and Somali region president. The Federal Communication Affairs Minister, Negeri, is seen as a subservient of TPLF elites and his words do not carry much meaning,if not nothing, in the opposition.
An oromo activist blog,opride, reported last week that authorities in the Federal government stopped text-to-give fundraising drive via Ethio-Telecom to help Oromos displaced by the violence in Somali region just five hours after it was kicked off.
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