According to Ethiopian media reports, a severe kidnapping incident has once again occurred recently in Oromia Region, Ethiopia, in the area of Gerbe Guracha town, about 155 km from the capital Addis Ababa.

According to reports, it was a bus full of passengers that was kidnapped by gunmen while passing through Gerbe Guracha town. When it was hijacked by the gunmen, there were 52 passengers on the bus. As early as July this year, a severe kidnapping incident had occurred in this town, when three passenger buses were hijacked, and more than 100 people on the buses were students from a university. At that time, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 700,000 birr for each person.

After this kidnapping incident, the North Showa government of Oromia Region claimed that security forces were trying to rescue them. At present, most of the passengers have escaped, but 8 passengers are still being held, and security forces are working to rescue the other kidnapped people.

At the same time, reports pointed out that the gunmen and kidnappers are hiding in a plantation near the town. However, it is currently unclear whether the location of the gunmen and kidnappers has been determined, and security forces are still unable to rescue the remaining 8 passengers.

According to the Ethiopian government, the kidnapping was carried out by the "Shane" forces under the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), and it said that these forces have long been engaged in kidnapping, extortion and massacring civilians in the Oromia Region. However, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has consistently denied being involved in the kidnapping, and issued a statement pointing out that it was the "Shane" armed force formed by the Ethiopian government itself that carried out kidnapping and massacring civilians in the name of the Oromo Liberation Army.

It is understood that in recent years, kidnapping civilians has become a serious and widespread problem in Ethiopia. According to the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister, who recently told representatives of the private sector at a public meeting, peace and stability in Ethiopia remain difficult to control, partly because the private sector supports armed groups in carrying out regime change.

However, the vice chairman of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations believes that instability and security issues are the biggest problems facing the private sector. Investment, business activities, tourism and the mobility of people have all been severely affected by armed conflict, and security issues have also placed severe pressure on citizens.

Recently, armed conflict has been reported in multiple regions of Ethiopia. Most of the conflicts originally occurred in the north of the country, and the coffee-producing regions, which are mainly in the south of the country, were not greatly affected. But recently armed conflict has also begun to occur in the south, and it will affect the country's coffee industry in the future.

In addition, relations between Ethiopia and its neighbor Somalia have deteriorated over the issue of Somaliland's independence, making the situation in the Horn of Africa tense. Ethiopia is also still affected by the Red Sea situation, and has no spare ports to use, so exports of goods such as coffee are slow, which is not conducive to development.

Moreover, earlier data from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority showed that between May 2023 and May 2024, Ethiopia exported a total of 209,000 tons of coffee, a marked decline compared with 290,000 tons in the same period last year. This is because the global coffee trade association has slowed its imports of coffee and other products from Ethiopia due to the situation and security concerns, affecting its international influence.

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