Ethiopian government’s attempt to blame the victims (the Oromo people) unravels TPLF’s war plans on Oromo people

Ethiopian government’s attempt to blame the victims (the Oromo people) unravels TPLF’s war plans on Oromo people

 It has now been more than a year since the Ethiopian government, controlled by the Tigrai People Liberation Front (TPLF), clearly and openly declared a war on Oromo people. In addition, the TPLF government has also promoted conflict between the Oromo people and its neighbors, which have lived together in peace, love and mutual respect for decades.


This TPLF orchestrated conflicts has caused a huge crisis on the life, property and overall wellbeing of hundreds-of-thousandth of Oromo people. In fact, the Ethiopian military generals and leaders have planned, trained and deployed the Somali special forces (aka Liyu Police) to carry-out the killings of the Oromo people and destruction of their homes. As a result of this war, hundredthof-thousandth of Oromos were either killed, wounded, their homes and properties were completely destroyed or displaced. While these all heinous acts have been taking place on Oromo farmers, the TPLF government has never had any saying.


The war currently declared on the Oromo people by TPLF and the Somali regional government is a well-researched and planned war for a long time. To make sure that their plans are being executed, first, they disarmed the Oromo farmers and made them defenseless. After they disarmed the Oromo farmers, TPLF ordered their well-trained and armed Liyu police to carry-out the killings, including kids and women, destroying their homes and confiscating their properties.


As one might recall that Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has exposed the secret plan of TPLF to open war on Oromos from Eastern to all the way to the Southern Oromia border, which covers a
distance of over 1000km. Not only OLF exposed TPLF’s plan, it has also warned those who were playing political games to stop their evil act before it resulted in such a tremendous crisis. We have also pre-informed the secret plan of TPLF to the world community as well as to the Ethiopian people.


The main purpose of TPLF’s current war is to weaken the Oromo, stop the Oromo Youth-led movement for freedom and overall the Oromo people’s struggle for Freedom and justice. In addition, this is a strategy to divert the real demand of the people and maintain their power and continue their exploitation. Therefore, TPLF and their agents are the main actors of these conflicts. Nonetheless, TPLF’s strategy of promoting conflict between the regions will neither bring a shortterm nor a long-term peace to the country as well as to the region.


While conflicts were taking place in the Eastern, South Eastern and Southern Oromia for over a year, the Ethiopian government has never taken any action to resolve the issue. Contrary to this, TPLF government has trained, armed and deployed the Somali region special forces to perpetrate havoc on the Oromo farmers along the border. Though the Oromo People living along the border have requested the government to secure their peace and defend them against the perpetrators, the Ethiopian government instead continues to support Liyu police with military equipment as well as logistics. As a result, over 700,000 Oromos were displaced from their lands and their homes were burned down. The Ethiopian government did not offer any support to these displaced people.

Perhaps, the burden was left to the Oromo people themselves. Similarly, when many Oromo were massacred at Calanqo, Daaroo Labuu at a place called Hawwii Guddinaa and in many more places, we haven’t heard any press release or any condemnation of the perpetrators from the Ethiopian government, further confirming that the life of the Oromo people worth nothing for the Ethiopian government.


Contrary to these war crimes taking place on Oromo people, we have observed when the Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariya Dessalegn in his December 17, 2017 press statement, trying to make the Oromo people accountable for the crimes that their military force and Liyu police have done. The Prime minister’s attempt to blame the victims here instead of the killer, Liyu police and military forces, is rather disgraceful. The prime minister would have asked himself, before reading his shameful statement, questions such as who started this war? Where was the war started and why? and try to get the answers.


As head of a state, the prime minister should have rather admitted the crisis and assure the people that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. At the same time, he should have also assured the Oromo people that his government will maintain their peace. But the prime minister’s statement was completely the opposite, trying hard to make the Oromo people accountable for the heinous crime done by the Liyu Police. Such Ethiopian government’s betrayal of the Oromo people has been observed on multiple occasions and thus, we should expect neither any justice nor any support from the Ethiopian government.


Therefore; The Oromo people must understand that it is their right to defend themselves from the war currently declared on them from multiple fronts by TPLF government and its agents. While admiring the generous support that the Oromo mass was giving to its fellow citizens, OLF wants to stress that there is no one for Oromo other than Oromo and nothing is more evident for this than what is currently happening in Oromia. Therefore, such support for our people must be strengthened and continue.


OLF also call upon all Oromo in diaspora to feel the pains and the crisis that the Oromo people are going through in Oromia and work hard to expose the evil acts of TPLF to the international community, and also continue to support our people. It is equally important to make sure that the support that you contribute is in fact reaches the people in need.


The Oromo people and the Somali people have lived together for so long without any issues. However, now the Liyu police and the TPLFgovernment are orchestrating a conflict between these people. We want to renew our call to our brotherly Somali people to let work together to thwart the TPLF’s evil plan.


Lastly, trying to blame the Oromo people, victims of the Liyu police, instead of the perpetrators will never solve the problems. Furthermore, the heinous killings and displacement taking place on Oromo people will not stop by simply blaming on the so-called corruption and illegal trading (contraband) that is taking place in the country. These excuses will never let the Ethiopian government be free from accountability. OLF strongly condemns those who are involved in planning, organizing, and commanding the military and Liyu police forces to open war on Oromo people, those who involved in the killings and displacement of peaceful Oromo and the Somali people. 

The Regime army continues to cause death and destruction in Oromia

A few weeks ago, a contingent of the TPLF military were deployed in Hawi Gudina District of West Hararge without the knowledge of the local administration or providing an explanation on the purpose of the deployment to any of the local authorities. Upon their arrival clashes erupted between the Oromo and Somali armed local militia along the border villages of the Hawi Gudina district. The newly deployed military then arrested several officials of the local administration and businessmen. They also forced the Oromia police contingent stationed there to leave the district. They then gathered Somali residents of Gadulo town ( district capital) and instructed them that they were in danger and forcefully placed them in a warehouse facility.

Two days ago, the newly deployed army members have left unannounced, leaving the Somali civilians in the warehouse where they instructed them to stay put. Elders of the area have stopped the military caravan and asked them why they were leaving the Somali civilians after isolating them from the local population and exposing them to danger. The military commander said that they had leave because 'you president [Lemma Megersa] said so and the Somali civilians have refused to leave . The elders asked the commander if they could go to talk to the Somalis at the warehouse and support them. But he warned them not to dare get there.

This morning, Oromo pastoralists who gathered in the village of Buyi to collect food aid that was being distributed have suddenly came under attack from what they believed were are TPLF-military supported by the Liyu Police forces. They overran the place killing many people; the number of causality is yet to be known as the area is still inaccessible.

When the news of these attacks reached Gadulo town, where the Somali civilians were held in warehouse, a man whose brother was killed in Buyi while collecting food aid picked up his gun, and went to the warehouse. He first killed an elderly Oromo woman who tried to stop him on his way, and upon arriving at the warehouse he began to randomly fire on the defenseless Somali civilians, killing several people, the number is not clear yet.

The man was then immediately apprehended by the elders and by the time this information reached me, they were working on their way to hand him over to the authorities. The military has now returned to the districts and is preventing ambulances from passing to the district. Later in the evening over 80 houses were burned down in Tao and about 300 Oromos were taken hostage by a coordinated mission of the TPLF army and the Liyu police. We are hoping they are alive. We plead and pray for their release.

From all these, it is obvious that the TPLF military have planned and prepared the groundwork for this bloodshed. This is meant to justify the military’s intervention in the regional affairs and revive the fast collapsing grip of the TPLF on power.

Sadly innocent civilians are paying the ultimate price. The TPLF is playing with the souls of Oromo and Somali civilians to ensure its grip onto power. Killing of civilians by any force must be condemned in the strongest of terms possible. As TPLF has pulled its last card of instigating a civil war among different ethnic groups, authorities in all regional states' in Ethiopia must beef of their internal security to protect all communities. Oromia regional government in particularly must step up protecting of the diverse communities under its jurisdiction. It must continue to set an example by investigating, apprehending and punishing any and all who are involved in instigating and attacking civilians of any background.

WE SHOULD ALL SAY NO! TO SUCH DEVILISH AND DESPERATE MACHINATIONS OF THE TPLF!!

Collective and Individual Self-Defense is the only option moving forward!

Before Yesterday, it was killing in Adigrat. yesterday, it was a massacre in Chelenqo. Tomorrow, nobody knows but there will be another massacre. Every passing day, the TPLF/EPRDF is testing and checking the resolve and the determination of the Ethiopian people, particularly the Oromo people, to defend themselves and what belongs to them. Knowingly or unknowingly, the TPLF is making the Oromo people and everybody else bitter, brutal and violent towards them and their supporters throughout Ethiopia.

No segment of the society is left out and spared. The resolve and determination of the students in schools, the farmers on their farmlands, the merchants in their business places, the youth on the streets, the rural residents, the urban residents, the old, the young and everybody in between are tested until the only choice one is left with is to fight back and stand one's ground.

It appears very clear that Ethiopia, as a country and society are effectively transitioned from one of the most peaceful, cultured and respectable African countries with a very strong sense of respect for the government and laws, are now morphing into what looks like the animal world of survival of the fittest. Might is right. One has to kill the killers and their supporters to stop them. For the TPLF/EPRDF, if you and your group are weak in terms of the number of firearms at your disposal or you are cultured, tolerant, law-abiding and magnanimous enough not to be barbaric and violently savage, you will be considered weak, and you will be robbed and mercilessly attacked. The Oromo people are the primary victim of this policy of the TPLF/EPRDF.

In order to restore respect for each other and peacefully coexist, it appears the Ethiopian people, particularly the Oromo people must adopt a clear policy of mutual self-defense by getting organized and building alliances, where possible, to defend themselves in a group of one or more. There is no legal recourse to redress the victims. Force is your only power. And power is ones only safety. The only recourse if attacked is self-defense and the defense of one’s property. An attack on one Oromo must be considered as an attack on all Oromos. Members and supporters of the group deploying those killing squads must be considered legitimate targets of self-defense.

Moving forward, the Oromo people have only one option. The Oromo people must adopt a clear policy of collective self-defense to contain the daily carnage and brutality. The Oromo people will not stop the daily carnage by crying for the killed, pleading with the killers and providing humanitarian assistance to the victims’ family. It is tried for the last twenty-six years and failed. It never worked and will never work.The Oromo people must stop mourning and start acting.

Artist Haacaallu Hundessa said it all. Self-defense, both individual and collective self-defense, is the only viable option. An attack on one Oromo must be considered as an attack on all Oromo people requiring simultaneous and instant actions of collective self-defense against the attacking group's interests and members everywhere. Only fear of retribution will tame the beast and speak sense to their mortal instinct and force them to behave like a human.