At least 29 people from Bodi tribe reportedly killed at the hand of Federal Police

April 11, 2014

Alemayehu Mekonen, Deputy Chairman  of the Omo Peoples Democratic Unity (OPDU) and the Zonal Chairman, in an interview with ESAT, said the measures taken by the Federal Police Force following the inter clan clash between the Bodi  and Konso have taken the lives of at least 29 people. The local people have given the reports to the Party.

Alemayehu said they are collating the names of those killed and will publish them soon. He said during his hospital visits he was told by the injured that around six of them were hit by bullets fired by Federal Police.

He said although at first the cause of the conflict seemed to be in relation to the Konso tribes that the government resettled, the main cause is the Bodi people have been displaced from their land for Sugarcane plantation. The Bodi tribe is a pastoralist community. The people give special care for forests and thus when the agrarian Konso started clearing the forest and the government began its plantation programs, the conflict turned out deadly, Alemayeu said.

The tension is still high despite interventions by the Federal Police.

ESAT’s efforts to speak to the officials of the region have failed due to mobile network problems in the area. 

source : http://ethsat.com/2014/04/11/at-least-20-bodi-people-feared-to-have-died-at-the-hands-of-federal-police-party/