ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – At least 10 people were killed and more than 80 wounded when the murder of a popular singer sparked explosions and protests in the Ethiopian capital and the surrounding Oromiya region on Tuesday, police and a doctor said.
The riots highlight Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s growing Oromo power base divisions as powerful ethnic activists who were previously allies increasingly challenging their government.
Abiy called the murder of musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa “an evil act” in a televised speech on Tuesday night.
“This is a committed and inspired act by national and foreign enemies to destabilize our peace and prevent us from achieving the things we started,” he said.
Haacaaluu was shot dead around 9:30 p.m. Monday, police said. Some suspects had been detained, Addis Ababa City Police Commissioner Getu Argawhe told state media, without giving further details. The murder appears to be well planned, police said.
The capital Addis Ababa erupted the following morning. There were three explosions in the city, said Federal Police Commissioner Endeshaw Tasew.
“Some of those who planted the bomb were killed, as well as innocent civilians,” he said in a televised speech Tuesday night, without elaborating.
A police officer was also killed during a clash with the bodyguards of media magnate Jawar Mohammed, he said. The scores died when Jawar’s supporters clashed with police last October.
Prime Minister Jawar and the murdered singer are all Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, which has long complained of being dragged out of power until Abiy’s appointment in 2018.
Jawar, a staunch supporter of Abiy who became a vocal critic, was arrested along with Bekele Gerba, leader of an opposition political party Oromo, and 33 other people, Endeshaw said. Police confiscated weapons and radios from Jawar guards, he said.
The Jawar television station was forced to broadcast by satellite from the US state of Minnesota after police raided its headquarters and arrested its staff, it said.
Jawar had posted about the murder on Facebook early Tuesday, using an alternative spelling of the singer’s name.
“They didn’t just kill Hachalu. They fired into the heart of the Oromo Nation once again! … They can kill us all, they can never stop us! NEVER !! “he wrote.
Haacaaluu criticized Ethiopia’s leadership in an interview with the Jawar media network last week.
PROTEST SPREAD
The murder sparked protests in several Oromo cities.
In the city of Adama, the main hospital received around 80 wounded, medical director Dr. Mekonnen Feyissa told Reuters. Most had been shot, but some had been hit or stabbed. Eight people died on the way to or from the hospital, he said.
Images on social media showed large crowds surrounding a car said to be carrying Haacaaluu’s body, walking slowly towards his hometown of Ambo, about 100 km west of Addis Ababa.
In the Oromo city of Harar, images appeared showing protesters tearing down and beheading a statue of the father of former emperor Haile Selassie. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the images or video.
Telephone services operated intermittently and the Internet was shut down, a step authorities have previously taken during the political unrest.
NetBlocks, an organization that tracks global internet shutdowns, said the shutdown started around 9:00 am local time and was the most severe last year.
SOUND TO A REVOLUTION
Haacaaluu’s songs were the soundtrack to years of bloody protests that propelled Abiy to power.
Haacaaluu, a former political prisoner, rose to fame during anti-government protests that began in the heart of Oromo. Abiy’s rise to power in 2018 ended decades of dominance by Tigray’s ethnic leaders.
Abiy ushered in greater political and economic freedoms in what was long one of the most repressive states on the continent, and won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for ending the conflict with neighboring Eritrea.
But ethnic and political clashes skyrocketed when long-repressed complaints spilled over. Local power corridors competed for access to land and resources in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups.
Abiy’s attempts to quell the violence and his emphasis on pan-Ethiopian politics provoked a backlash from some of the former supporters, and his ability to impose order can be severely tested when polls are conducted.
Elections were scheduled for August, but were postponed until next year due to COVID-19.
Additional reports from Kumerra Gemechu in Addis Ababa, Ayenat Mersie in Nairobi and Giulia Paravicini in Paulu; Written by Katharine Houreld; Peter Graff and Mike Collett-White Edition
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