Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: July 23 (EI) — The Ethiopian army has taken security control of the restive Southern regional state aftermath of recent violent conflicts, according to a statement aired by state-run media outlet on Tuesday.
“The Ethiopian army, along with federal police forces, will take over security control of the region to stem spreading unrest in Southern region,” according to the statement read by regional state-run Southern TV.
Local security forces have been unable to discharge their peace restoration mandate and instead had been dragged into local political conspiracies, it was noted.
The statement further said that a command post, led by the federal government security forces, has taken over security in the restive region, with details of the new security arrangement of the command post to be made public soon.
The latest security move came after continuing unrest in the region’s most populous Sidama zone since Thursday last week, eventually leaving at least four people dead, according to local government officials.
The Ethiopian government also recently disclosed that it has also arrested at least 150 people suspected of involvement in unrest in Sidama zone.
Sidamas make up about 4 percent of Ethiopia’s estimated 105 million population. In recent years, Sidama activists have campaigned for Sidama zone to break out of Ethiopia’s Southern regional state and form Ethiopia’s 10th regional state.
Ethiopia currently has nine regional states, although over the last one year several ethnic groups in the country have been campaigning to create their own regional states, heightening fears of political instability in the country.
On July 15, in a bid to appease the rising radicalism of Sidama activists, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said it plans to hold a referendum on “Sidama regional state” status within a five months period.
However, the concession by NEBE was seen as too little and too late by Sidama activists which vowed to continue their campaign to realize their own regional state.
