At least 100 university students traveling from the Amhara region to the capital, Addis Ababa have been taken hostage by suspected Oromia militants, APA can report on Friday.
Families of the hostages told APA that the students, most of whom from Debark University in Amhara region, were kidnapped by gunmen in the Gerbe Guracha area of the North Showa zone in Oromia., about 155 kilometers north of Addis Ababa.
The students had been traveling in three public transport buses called “Tata” on Wednesday, July 3, 2023 until they were abducted by armed militants known as ‘Shene.’
One of the six students who managed to escape the kidnapping told APA Friday that the militants stopped the buses and took the passengers into the forest.
“The militants who were armed with sniper rifles and Kalashnikovs, forced everyone off the buses and took them into the forest. They stopped us with weapons, forced us out of the bus, and took us into the forest,” the student said, describing the incident as horrific.
Another student, who had also fled reported that 56 people, including herself, were able to flee from the three buses.
“We all ran to save our lives,” she told the APA, noting that she was injured during her escape and later taken to a hospital.
The militants demanded ransom money for the release of the hostages. A family member of one of the kidnapped students said that they were asked to pay 700,000 birr for her release. The family was left in a state of confusion and helplessness, unable to meet the demand.
Efforts to obtain more information about the incident from Debark University and local officials were unsuccessful. The university president mentioned only that “we have applied to the relevant federal institution.”
MG/as/APA