On the morning of July 2, 2024, three public buses reportedly carrying at least 167 passengers were travelling to Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, for the summer holidays. Most of the passengers were students from Debark University in the Amhara region.

At approximately 10 a.m., gunmen intercepted the buses near Garba Guracha town in Oromia province — around 155 kilometers north of Addis Ababa. They kidnapped the occupants and took them to a remote area where the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) is believed to operate.

Two days after the incident, the families of the victims were contacted for ransom.

"I received a call from my sister on Friday July 4 after not hearing from her for two days," a sister of one of the kidnapped students told DW.

"The phone call was interrupted, but the kidnappers later called me themselves, demanding 500,000 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) ($6,200, €5,700) for her release," she added.

Another family from Hawassa received a ransom demand of 700,000 ETB. "We cannot afford to pay such a large amount," said the elder brother of another kidnapped student.

Government statement confuses families

A week after the kidnappings, the Oromia regional state announced that 160 of the 167 victims had been released through a government operation coordinated with local residents.

"We managed to release 160 students and are still working to free the remaining seven," said regional spokesman Hailu Adugna.

However, the families of the kidnapped students strongly dispute this claim. "While listening to the government's statement, I was talking to my sister, who was still in the kidnappers' hands," said the sister of one of the students.

"She is telling me that more than 100 students are still there in the kidnappers hands and asking for ransom. We are ashamed by the misleading statement (from the authorities)." 

The elder brother from Hawassa also expressed skepticism: "We have seen nothing to support the government's statement. Where are the released students, including my sister?"

While some students have reportedly managed to escape, as of August 7 the victims' families contacted by DW say they have received no tangible information regarding the location or well-being of their loved ones in over a month.

Kidnappings spike in Oromia and Amhara regions

Students are frequent targets, but workers from various industries, including cement and sugar, as well as civil servants and farmers, have also been kidnapped and held for ransom.

In September 2023, six Ethiopian Electric Power workers were abducted while working on the Aluto geothermal project near Batu town in East Shewa Zone, Oromia. The kidnappers demanded 10 million ETB for their release — significantly more than in previous cases.

"The company is doing its best to secure their release peacefully," Ethiopian Electric Power spokesman Moges Mekonnen told DW at the time.

Despite the best efforts of victims' families, kidnappings still often end in tragedy. In mid-June 2024, in the town of Kemise in the Amhara region, a driver in his 30s was kidnapped. His kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of 2 million ETB, which the man's father negotiated down to 500,000 ETB.

After paying the ransom, the father received no further information. A few days later, his son's body was found a few kilometers from town.

"They killed my son after receiving the ransom," the father told DW.

A troubling trend

The 2020 kidnapping of 17 students from Dembidollo University in Oromia marked the beginning of this troubling trend of kidnappings in Ethiopia. As the country recovers from the Tigray War, which ended in 2022, and grapples with ongoing civil conflict, many Ethiopians have raised concerns over the ability of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration to resolve the security crisis.

In response to the Debark University kidnappings, the US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin Massinga, wrote on social media platform X: "Recent and frequent kidnappings in Oromia and Amhara regions show how prolonged conflict emboldens criminals and weakens (the) rule of law."

In the vast majority of cases, armed groups are accused of carrying out the kidnappings: The OLA, which has been blamed for the Debark University kidnappings, claims to be fighting for the "self-determination" of the Oromo ethnic group and has been labelled a terrorist group by the Ethiopian parliament.

However, the lack of thorough investigations makes it difficult for authorities to properly trace and tackle the problem, despite growing public concern. While some kidnappers are primarily driven by financial gain, others may be pursuing a political agenda.

In its latest annual report, the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission (ECHR) stressed that, "human rights violations against civilians in the context of armed conflict are still concerning and in effect have become more widespread," adding that the "growing kidnapping of civilians, including for ransom" was of "grave concern."

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Edited by: Ineke Mules