ADDIS ABABA, (HAN) — The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has strongly rejected the legitimacy of Ethiopia’s Ogaden Gas Project, demanding its immediate suspension until a transparent and inclusive consultation process involving the Somali people is carried out.
In a statement shared with Addis Standard, the ONLF accused the Ethiopian government of pursuing the project without the consent of local communities, resulting in forced displacement, environmental degradation, and human rights abuses across the Somali Regional State.
“This project was launched without the consent of the people whose land and resources are being exploited,” an ONLF spokesperson said. “The Somali people have the right to decide how their natural wealth is used and who benefits from it.”
The group also called for the immediate release of all detained ONLF leaders and members, claiming that Ethiopian security forces have intensified arrests and harassment of local activists opposing the gas project.
“The government’s continued detention of ONLF leaders undermines any prospect for peace and dialogue,” the statement read.
Environmental and Social Concerns
The ONLF condemned what it described as “mass displacement of rural communities” to make way for exploration and extraction operations. It further alleged that gas drilling activities have caused serious ecological damage, including contamination of water sources and the loss of grazing lands vital to pastoralist livelihoods.
Local civil society organizations have also voiced concern over the lack of transparency surrounding the project and called for environmental and social impact assessments before further development proceeds.
Project Background
The Ogaden Gas Project, based in Ethiopia’s Somali region, is one of the country’s most significant natural resource ventures. It has attracted foreign investment from Chinese companies, notably Poly-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings Limited, which partnered with the Ethiopian government to explore and export natural gas from the Calub and Hilala fields.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has hailed the project as central to Ethiopia’s plan for energy self-sufficiency and economic transformation. The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) has portrayed the project as a “landmark achievement” in national development.
However, the ONLF maintains that any project that excludes local communities and fails to ensure fair benefit-sharing is “illegitimate and exploitative,” warning that such policies could deepen grievances in the long-troubled region.
“We are not against development,” the ONLF spokesperson said. “We are against exploitation and the silencing of a people who have long suffered from marginalization.”
Background on ONLF
Founded in 1984, the Ogaden National Liberation Front is a Somali nationalist movement that fought for the self-determination of the Somali people in Ethiopia’s eastern region. For decades, the ONLF waged an armed struggle against the federal government, accusing it of marginalizing the Somali population and exploiting local resources.
In 2018, following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reform agenda, the ONLF signed a peace agreement with the Ethiopian government and agreed to pursue its goals through peaceful political means. The group was subsequently removed from Ethiopia’s list of terrorist organizations.
Despite the peace deal, tensions have resurfaced in recent years over issues of governance, resource control, and the treatment of ONLF members and supporters in the Somali region.
