APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) At least 30 drivers have been kidnapped by gunmen in Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state, APA can report on Thursday.
The kidnapping took place in Gerbe-Guracha town of North Shoa zone of Oromia region by fighters suspected to be affiliated to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel group.
The kidnapping took place at a close distance from a police station which has not yet made any effort to rescue the victims.
Family members of the victims told APA that security forces remain reluctant to rescue the victims who are estimated to number between 30 to 50.
APA also learned that families of the kidnapped drivers are asked to pay ransom money by the abductors to the tune of around one million birr each (18,300 U.S. dollars).
According to information reaching APA, the gunmen discriminately kidnapped ethnic Amhara drivers.
Separately scores of people have reportedly been abducted by suspected OLA militants from Sululta town around 30 kilometers from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa last week.
Ethiopia’s Oromia region is in recent months suffering from spate of kidnappings and killings, almost all of which are unclaimed by any entity.
The Ethiopian government and its tightly controlled media empire generally keeps a stony silence on the spate of killings and kidnappings rocking Ethiopia’s largest and most populous region.
MG/abj/APA