The mysterious disappearance of students from a university in western Ethiopia on their way back to their home region following recent disturbances still remains a national tragedy shrouded in obscurity. The saga surrounding the case looks gruesome and tragic given the fact that not only the whereabouts of the victims is still unknown but also the identities and motives of the abductors remains shrouded in darkness.
This makes the Dembi Dolo University abduction worse than Boko Haram’s similar operation in Nigeria a few years back when more than a hundred girls were kidnapped by the terrorist group whose agenda and motives were clear and domestic and international mobilization was massive and effective in securing the release of some of the victims.
Nearly two months have elapsed since the unfolding of the Dembi Dolo kidnapping saga and this is obviously a long time for enduring the ghastly kidnapping of innocent students who might have fallen in the traps of a group with an unknown agenda that is still keeping silent in the face of public resentment and massive mobilization. Who is behind this criminal and inhuman undertaking? If the individuals or groups behind the terrorist operation were after international attention, they could have used less brutal methods to attain the infamy or notoriety they were seeking.
Kidnapping innocent teenage girls to make a political point is not only the acme of stupidity. It is also a vivid demonstration that ethnic politicians and nationalist fascists would leave no stone unturned to promote their agendas. This was the case in Bosnia and Kosovo and this is the case in many parts of the world. when nationalist and/or ethnic politics goes wrong it brings out its worst features such as fascism and victimizes the innocent, the unsuspecting, girls, children and women among others. We have seen the manifestation of ethnic fascism in this country in the last two or so years and we are going to see more absurdities as long as nationalists and narrow-minded and self-serving ethnic fascists are in the driving seat of Ethiopian politics.
Even the notorious Boko Haram in Nigeria would not go as far as abducting innocent girls and then disappear from the political radar just like that. At least it has the courage to articulate its misleading ideology in whose name it promotes hate, anger, and uses human sufferings to fill its pocket with money it collects from international sponsors like Al Queda and ISIS. The Dembi Dolo abductors are no doubt a bunch of ignoramuses whose cruelty and inhumanity is even below the standards set by its likeminded terrorists elsewhere in Africa.
The Dembi Dolo abduction of innocent girls and students has transcended all the bounds of tolerance and patience. That was exactly why it has caused the unprecedented anger and indignation of tens of thousands of Ethiopians across the political spectrum excepting those who are openly or clandestinely aiding and abetting the inhumane operation in the name of ethnic or nationalist politics.
In fact the degeneration of ethnic and/or nationalist politics into fascistic practices occurs bit by bit and often undetected. The theorists of ethnic politics and their followers often resort to violence or provoke violence as a show of force and terrorize their critics and opponents. They use any pretext to shed the blood of innocent civilians or sow the seeds of discord, distrust and hate in the heart of people who have nothing to do with their insane politics. Some of the arch promoter s of nationalist hate and terror are so-called educated people who, at some point in their lives paraded either as socialists or democrats, intellectuals or self-styled leaders of the people they claim they represent but are remote from the aspirations of the people.
That is why waves of popular protests swept across the Amhara regional state last week where many towns were the scenes of angry demonstrations by youths and students against the more than 50 days abduction of young students on their way back to their families following the disturbances at Dembi Dolo University. The whereabouts and fate of the students are still unknown and the demonstrators blamed the federal government of neglect, silence and prevarication by the authorities who did not come up with clear information as to the fate of the victims.
The demonstrations in Bahir Dar, Debre Berhan and other towns were peaceful orderly and disciplined as thousands of youths went to the streets carrying banners and slogans denouncing the Dembi dolo abductors and criticizing the regional and federal governments of silence in the face of the tragedy. “The parents of the abducted girls are mourning the loss of their daughters,” said one demonstrator in Bahir Dar, “and we cannot remain indifferent to their plights.”
Another demonstrator in Bahir Dar added by saying that the lethargy and absence of interest in the matter by federal authorities was the cause of the indignation that swept the Amhara region. Another demonstrator in Weldiya town said, “The abducted girls are our sisters, and future mothers and wives and the hopes of the country,” adding, “they should immediately be released and the federal authorities release authentic information as to where they are and who the authors of the abduction are. “I am a mother,” cried one demonstrator in Bahir Dar, “and it pains me to think about the adducted girls’ parents who are going through a painful time while expecting their offspring to come back home sane and safe.
The Boko Haram style abduction of the young girls is also provoking indignation across all the communities in and outside Amhara region. Some people said that the difference between the Boko Haram and Dembi Dolo abduction is that the former was conducted in the name of a religion while the latter has no declared motives or objective. The secrecy surrounding the crisis has undermined the credibility of regional and federal authorities who were accused by the demonstrators of indifference and weakness.
It is to be recalled that in the case of Boko Haram, the Nigerian government had conducted military operations against the terrorist group and managed to liberate some of the abducted girls while the Dembi Dolo abduction still remains a mystery. Some of the parents of the abducted girls told an FM radio station that they were so angry and sorrowful that they could not work in the fields, gather the harvests or conduct normal day-to-day life.
“Our minds are so disturbed that we could not do any work,” one of the parents told the radio station recently. Many critics of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and its terrorist activities maintained that the group had supporters and helpers within the Nigerian state who are working hand in glove with the group thereby making it difficult for the security forces to eradicate it.
A series of ethnic-inspired conflicts and confrontations have rocked many universities across the nation and a number of innocent students have lost their lives or wounded. This had also led to the closure of a number of universities threatened with similar danger. According to recent information more than 30,000 students have left these universities and went back to their home regions for fear of ethnic-inspired attacks.
Human rights groups too are denouncing the abduction and government silence in the face of the crisis. “The government silence is not worthy of a country like Ethiopia that has recently earned the honor of winning the 2019 Nobel Prize.” one demonstrator in Woldiya town reiterated. A another demonstrator said that the people in the region are sick and tired of the oppression and attacks they suffered in the last 27 years in the hands of former EPRDF officials, adding that this time around they will not tolerate a repeat of similar acts of cruelty.
In the face of silence from the federal government, many people are said to be resorting to social media sources for information and this is said to have exacerbated the situation.
The Ethiopian parliament last week met to hear reports by the country’s Attorney General about the situation in the area of human rights and the rule of law in the country in general and the condition of the abducted students in particular. In his report, the AG said that trying to bring all the perpetrators of the abuses could not be cooperated with his office mainly because of lack of cooperation from regional authorities who tend to ignore the issues or remain indifferent and in the worst case protect the allege criminals.
Many parliamentarians intervened rather angrily to criticize the AG office for not doing enough to investigate the issue of the abducted girls and possibly bring the alleged perpetrators before the law. On the other hand, the AG accused some regional authorities for failing to expose the perpetrators or cooperate in the efforts to bring alleged criminals before the law.
he even said that some regional officials were cooperating with the suspects and protecting them from the efforts by the AG office to prosecute the alleged perpetrators. “Some regional officials are even working hand in glove with the wanted criminals.” the AG told parliament, adding that the office has conducted investigations on many cases and handed over the cases to the courts for decision while hundreds of other cases are still pending.
The fact that federal authorities recently acted with more vigor and determination to respond to the angry reaction by the demonstrators in Amhara region by forming committees with the participation of all the stakeholders in the crisis and look for ways to secure the release of the innocent victims is obviously an encouraging step towards ending the months long saga with serious implications.
The ongoing abduction crisis seems to have taught regional as well as the federal governments as to the necessity need for not only providing prompt and reliable information to the public but also acting in tandem with all those affected by the tragedy. However, the abduction saga is bound to take more time before it leads to its final denouement. For now hope of a favorable outcome is the only thing that binds together all those working to end the crisis. The authorities should also understand that if they tolerate or keep silent in the face of ethnic-inspired terrorism, they are harboring the illusion that nationalists may one day turn into democrats.
Nowhere in the world have narrow-minded ethnic violence-mongers or demented nationalists become real democrat. Suffice it to look back at recent Serbian history and see how Slobodan Milosevitch and his communist comrades turned to nationalism and then deteriorated into avowed fascists that brought so much misery and terrible calamity to the Balkan peoples back in early 1990s. This gruesome episode should serve as a wakeup call to nip ethnic or nationalist violence into the bud and not proper in cynical silence as the Dembi Dolo abductors are doing now.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 9 February 2020
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
