Just hours after he resigned from his position, former leader of the Ethiopian Somali region Abdi Mohamud Omar has been arrested.
Omar is currently in detention in Addis Ababa, according to local media reports. He was arrested by federal military officials.
State-owned ESTV website reports that “Officials from Ethiopia’s Somali region told the Ethiopian Somali region media that Abdi Mahmud Omar who resigned yesterday [6 August] as a governor, was arrested by Ethiopia’s federal military.”
“Officials from the Somali region in Ethiopia have confirmed to us reports of the arrest of Abdi Mahmud Omar,” the site added.
Why Omar resigned
Omar’s decision to step down follows days of tension and clashes in the Somali region after the government deployed soldiers there.
Ethnic Somalis in the eastern Ethiopian city of Jigjiga were reported to be leaving amid growing violence.
Abdi Mohamoud Omar is accused of creating a local security unit that has created tension in the area.
This has sparked fighting between Somali and Oromo communities in the region.
Over the weekend Ethiopian soldiers clashed with these local security forces the country’s eastern Somali region.
Both set of troops exchanged gunshots. The clashes on Saturday were as a result of attempts to arrest regional officials.
Jigjiga is the administrative centre of the country’s Somali region.
Violence in Jigjiga and other parts of the city has left several people dead.
Source: Africafeeds.com
