Some angry protesters on Wednesday blocked the main road linking Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to the Amhara region at the Gohatsion town after the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) killed about 30 hostages.
Local media reports on Thursday said that the rebel force took the hostages a week ago from the town and surrounding area known as Feliqliq and demanded a ransom of 200,000 Ethiopian birr (about $4000) per captive.
The reports added that some families of the hostages were able to pay the ransom to the OLF troops also known as ‘Shene’, but majority of the families of the hostages could not meet up with the payment and the OLF troops indiscriminately massacred all the hostages.
The residents are accusing the federal government of turning deaf ears to their requests to stop the attacks against ethnic Amhara people and rescue the hostages.
The residents of the town also accusing the Oromia Security Forces of collaborating with the rebel forces.
Meanwhile, the federal government has said nothing about the killing in Amhara region, though the targeted attacks against the Amhara region have intensified across the country.
The protesters are asking the government to pay attention to the targeted attacks against the Amhara people.
According to the truck drivers shuttling between the capital Addis Ababa and the Amhara region via Gohatsion in Oromia region, it has become a security risk to travel to and from the region.
They said that there had been incidents of killings of truck drivers, beatings and kidnappings by gunmen operating in the region.
Ten truck drivers had been reportedly killed in just one year between Oromia region and Abay Gorges in the Amhara region.
More than 100 truck drivers had to quit their jobs due to the security problems in the Oromia region.
MG/GIK/APA