ADDIS ABABA — Several thousand protesters took to the streets in Ethiopian cities this week, demanding Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed do more to tackle simmering ethnic violence following the kidnapping of a group of university students. Armed men abducted the students from Dembi Dollo University in the Oromiya region in early December, according to survivors who escaped. The government said earlier this week that the army had rescued 21 of the students, but at least 12 others are still missing. He has been unable, however, to stamp out ethnic violence in Africa’s second-most populous nation, including among his Oromo group. “We … demanded to talk to the students over the phone,” another relative of one of the students told Reuters, asking for anonymity for fear of possible reprisals.

Source: National Post February 01, 2020 12:33 UTC