ADDIS ABABA, (HAN) — The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has strongly condemned the Ethiopian government’s decision to begin extracting oil from the Somali Regional State, calling the move “illegal and exploitative.”
ONLF spokesperson Abdiqadir Adani Hiirmooge told BBC reporter Nimaan Osman that the group views the government’s actions as a continuation of what it describes as the systematic marginalization of the Somali people in Ethiopia.
“The federal government is exploiting natural resources in the Somali Region without consulting or benefiting the local population,” Hiirmooge said. “This is another form of economic injustice imposed on our people.”
Hiirmooge accused Addis Ababa of prioritizing profits over the welfare and rights of the region’s inhabitants. He urged the international community and human rights organizations to closely monitor what he described as “resource exploitation under military control.”
The Ethiopian government has not yet issued a formal response to ONLF’s statement. The oil extraction project, located in the Ogaden Basin, has long been a source of tension between local communities and the central government.
The ONLF, which fought for the self-determination of the Somali Region for decades, signed a peace agreement with the Ethiopian government in 2018, ending years of armed struggle.
However, the ONLF opposition group has continued to criticize Addis Ababa’s handling of political and economic affairs in the region.
