After more than three weeks away from their motherland 19 children finally made it back home to the Ethiopian soil after a long ordeal. It is very painful and heartbreaking period to see some of the kids who have lost so much, their parents and their weight in just over three weeks.
A sense of despair and anguish was obvious among many people who received them in the Gambella airport. The notable ones were the Gambella National and Regional State President, Ato Gatluak Tut who could not hold back his tears weeping as to why these humans-like animals could be so cruel even to children like these some of which are infants.
A 9 years old girl who was in the early group of 14 children brought in the morning was asked about where her 6 years old bother and a 4 years old cousin are? She replied that she did not know where as they got divided up among the gun men who killed their parents. She was asked if there was anyone among them who got killed while they were being taken away, she said that none of them got killed. They all made it safe to the Murle land but they were split over by the attackers.
Hence, brothers and sisters or children from one family did not get allocate to a single person who abducted them but they just got split up and divided like goods.
Nonetheless the arrival of 19 kids was a bit of relief to their relatives but at the same time it also a worrisome period for relatives of the children who have not yet been returned. The relatives are truthful truthful to their governments both federal and regional.
The People of Gambella are very are very thankful to all of men and women serving in the Ethiopian Military. They are very thankful to the air force pilots as well as tank drivers and everyone who crossed the Ethiopian border to South Sudan in search of the Ethiopian kids.
The people of Gambella cannot be thankful enough to the Ethiopian Defense Minister and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia for declaring to take any necessary measure that would lead us to getting our kids back. It opened the way to be a successful mission.
What we saw yesterday normally does not happen in many countries not just in Africa only but also even civilized countries like Russia. We saw the abduction of more than 300 kids in Beslan in 2004 in the caucus regions of Russia. We saw that in Nigeria 2 years ago with the Chibok school girls being taken by the Boko Haram.
None of those operations have been successful. But with the guidance from God we love and trust we pray that all our kids will be brought back safely and also that our military personal who are deeply in this operation would be safe and well.
God Bless Ethiopia
