AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - Kidnappings for ransom on the rise

Addis Ababa (Fides News Agency) – Kidnappings for ransom are on the rise in several regions of Ethiopia. These are carried out by criminal gangs as well as guerrilla movements that use ransom money to finance themselves. But kidnappings also have a political purpose: to sow fear and distrust for the authorities among local populations.
In early July, the kidnapping of a hundred university students traveling from the Amhara region to Addis Ababa, kidnapped by some guerrillas in Garba Guracha in the North Shoa area about 155 from the capital - in the Oromia region - caused a stir.
The kidnappers, who allegedly belonged to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA, also known as the Oromo Liberation Front, OLF Shene), intercepted three buses on which the students were traveling. The families of some hostages received ransom demands from the kidnappers (for between US $8,000 and US $17,000), but so far the hostages have not been released.
Most abductions occur in Oromia, but there are increasing cases of abductions in other war-torn regions, particularly in Tigray and the Amhara. Cross-border abductions by non-OLA groups have also been reported in different parts of the country.
The OLA dismissed allegations of perpetrating the kidnappings in a statement posted on X on July 11 in which it accused the ruling party of using the kidnappings as a tool to discredit the opposition, openly claiming the government kidnapped citizens to defame its critics.
This statement, beyond the veracity of the accusations contained, demonstrates how the plight of kidnappings is not only a criminal issue but a political one. Indeed, until recently, abductions were rare outside the OLA strongholds in Western Oromia. Attacks typically targeted police officers, government officials, and their relatives, and the objectives were generally political, such as increasing instability or showcasing the presence of guerrillas in a specific area. But the modus operandi of the OLA may have inspired criminal gangs which, in the last few months have kidnapped people for essentially economic reasons. The instability and precarious economic conditions that afflict the Ethiopian regions that have just emerged from recent conflicts, never fully concluded (Tigrai and Amhara) fuel criminal actions including kidnappings.
Extortion based kidnappings do not spare humanitarian workers working for some international NGOs either. This was the case for Yared Malese, an employee of the Action for Social Development and Environmental Protection Organisation (ASDEPO), kidnapped and subsequently murdered by an unidentified armed group operating in the Dawunt district, in the North Wollo area, in the Amhara region. With the murder of Malaysia, eight aid workers were killed in Ethiopia, six of them in the Amhara region. In 2024, 14 extortion abductions of humanitarian workers were reported , mainly in the Central and Northern Gondar areas, according to the United Nations bodies operating in Ethiopia. (L.M.) (Fides News Agency 21/8/2024)

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