There are many bad days ahead for the people of Gambella before peace could return to the region. The region is brought to standstill with human lost equally severe as economic lost. With Nuer and Anyuak unable to cross to each other’s neighborhood, one would vouch that the current mode of the state is worst than the Apartheid era of South Africa.
People are dying daily through stab wounds with one dead yesterday and the other two in a critical condition in Metu General Hospital. The economic cost is also huge. With the state in a complete lockdown, the business particularly those in hot spot areas have been closed for over a week.
This does not look good for Gambella. What is more alarming is also that there does not seem to be away out of this mess. The group responsible for the violence in the region is unable to refrain from what they are doing.
With no help among the elders and church leaders, Gambella’s dark days are ahead for unforeseeable future because the regional state police is unable to maintain peace nor prevent violent. They have been disarmed in the fear of taking sides. This also extends to the special force (Liyi Hayle) in the region.
This renders criminals who indiscriminately butcher humans with no fear of God or of the authority as if they were killing sheep, oxen, goat or a chicken. The yesterday attack on Nuer who crossed to a squarely Aren Guade Hotel more adjacent to Anyuak than to the Nuer is an indicative that the region is still in deep trouble.
The group allegedly responsible for the yesterday attack were Anyuak youth from “Dhaldiim” Organisation. Dhiildham was recently formed by Anyuak extremists with the motive to install their preferred leaders into Gambella National and Regional State Government and remove those who are governing the region noticeably the current Gambella Administration led by President Ato Gatluak Tut.
The method to remove the current leadership, according to this group’ is through any means be it violent or political. They demonstrated few days ago demanding the resignation of the President. They were demonstrating with the ostensive reason that they will get support from the federal government in their quest for state chaos. When their political strategy failed to work, the group resorted to violent and that led to the intervention of the Ethiopian Defense Force.
Some members of this groups who met fierce resistant from the Ethiopian defense force tried to drag out patients from the Gambella General Hospital to kill the patients. The Hospital was built in Anyuak neighborhood and so they thought it was easy for them to pick their victims. But out of their knowledge, defense force was already deployed in areas which were of great danger.
This group is funded by Anyuak extremists in Europe, United States of America, Canada, Australia and at home here in Gambella. The two main goals for this organisation are to derive the Nuers out from Gambella town back to the weredas though Gambella is a city for all ethnic groups in Gambella and to remove the President, Gatluak from power and install an extremist whose view, values and ideology are alike with theirs.
Social Media rumors indicate that Dhaldiim will demonstrate in the next few days in Gambella town. Gambella Vision understands that the upcoming demonstration is not peaceful because if those mobs matche to Nuer neighborhood, then it is highly likely that violent may occur.
Gambella Vision urges the Ethiopian Defense Force and the Ethiopian Federal Police which are in charge of the State Security to do more in restoring law and order. Punish the perpetrators so that people become aware that if you get involve in some sort of violence, you will meet the full force of the law
