“The people are in a lot of trouble today, where people can’t go, where they want to go and never come back” – a resident whose brother was killed
In a statement given to VOA radio, the residents of Metma District, West Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, are in dire straits due to the armed forces’ arrests and killings.
Ato Akowa Degene indicated that his brother, who is a public transport minibus driver in Thetubu, was killed last week, Wednesday, June 26, by gunmen while he was at work. On that day, Metma was traveling from Gondar with 18 people.
At the place called ‘Meka’, militants shot and killed 3 people, including him, while 14 people were kidnapped and taken to the forest.Ato Aku explained that the assistant ran away. They pointed out that another car that came from behind was taken down even though no one was killed.
“Always killing, always arresting, death is just very sad. We have become a country without a savior,” they said with a sense of humor.
“The people are in trouble. We are in a time and place where no one can go anywhere, no one can come back to what he intended, and human life is destroyed. We have not found anything to save us, and the government has not been able to save us,” he said.
Metama General Hospital’s cremation department employee, Aqellu Gentu, said that the family of an unidentified person who was among those who were taken by gunmen last week, did not show up, so the burial took place at the municipality.
A resident of Metma district, who asked not to be named, said that it is a challenge to go home after work due to the increase in killings and kidnappings in the area. “It’s not just that hostages are increasing, but people are also being killed,” said the same resident.
He said that an ambulance driver was kidnapped from Matema Hospital recently. He said he is begging in every office after asking for 300 thousand for release. The resident and the worker pointed out that it was difficult for them to move due to the obstruction. “It’s hard to leave the house except for work from home,” he said
A driver working from Gondar; “It’s very difficult for anyone to go out and in, to move to work, to shop, to do other day-to-day activities. It’s a terrible situation. The road is very dangerous,” he told the radio station.
