Benishangul Gumuz Regional State has removed the Security chief, Special Force Commander, Deputy Police Commissioner, and 42 other high-ranking officials in the region, citing negligence of duty and having involvement in the recent attacks in the region that left an unspecified number of people killed and over 5000 displaced in Metekel Zone.
The regional government has already filed investigations on the 10 of the removed officials, while the security head, Abera Bayeta, was assigned a new role as Water Bureau Head.
According to reports, hundreds were killed in early September due to the attack that had continued for weeks. On September 22, 2020, the region’s security Bureau announced that more than 370 people had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in various attacks.
On September 25, 2020, again an unidentified group of gunmen reportedly killed 15 civilians in Dangur Woreda of Benishangul Gumuz.
The government had extended the security command post in the region last week, which was installed after ethnic violence displaced 25,000 people to the nearby Amhara region in 2019.
