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Toronto – 271 Ethiopians from Gardula area of South Ethiopia who were detained by Fano forces about three weeks ago are released and have reached Arba Minch.
DW Amharic cited the Gardula Zone head as saying that the kidnappee on Monday had arrived in Arba Minch – South Ethiopia.
There are conflicting narratives about their identities. The Ethiopian government has been painting a picture of the kidnappees heading to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) for a forest clearing job hired by a company – unspecified. There had been reports that forest clearing for GERD was completed a few years ago and that the reservoir has been filled four times.
Fano – rebel forces in the Amhara region – have alleged that those who were kidnapped were captured near Debre Markos area as they were heading to Bir Sheleko military training camp.
Also, there is a claim on the part of the alleged employer- whose identity is undisclosed – that six million Ethiopian birr was paid to Fano forces to secure the release of the kidnapped. In an interview with VOA Amharic, Fano forces spokesperson in Gojjam – Marshet Tsehayu – said that no money was received.
DW Amharic report indicates that there were 273 when they were captured but those who have returned to Arba Minch are only 271.
Mamush Godana is one of those who were released. He is quoted as saying “They took us; we traveled. But later we were captured by Fano. They detained us. In the fifth week on Friday around 10 o’clock [4:00 p.m.] they released us. We started returning on the same day and arrived in Addis Ababa around 10 o’clock [4: 00 p.m.] on Saturday.”
Some kidnappees made allegations that they were abused at the hands of Fano. However, Fano forces deny it. From the stories so far, Fano has a reputation for treating captives with dignity and sending them to their families when completing indoctrination.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and Amhara regional state have been claiming that normalcy is restored in the region. However, multiple local news sources have reported intensive fighting between Fano Forces in many parts of the region in the past few days.
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