Commission’s ‘Farce’ of a Report Claims Only Three Dead; Aseko Church Condemns Outrageous Erasure
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The Aseko District Church has utterly rejected the casualty figures released by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) regarding the brutal militant attacks in Arsi Zone, Oromia, on Ginbot 23 & 24, 2018 EC
While the Commission seems content to play down the bloodshed, His Grace Abune Elisa, Archbishop of the Arsi and Somali Region Jigjiga Dioceses of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, had already confirmed the grim reality at the time: 13 Orthodox Christians slaughtered, over 280 faithful displaced, and a century-old church reduced to ashes.
Local residents speaking to Borkena went further, placing the death toll at well over 50, with numerous others still missing.
Yet, in a staggering display of detached reporting last night, the EHRC claimed the fatalities amounted to a grand total of “three” conveniently categorised as two Christians and one Muslim. They also noted damage to the perimeter wall of Sheikh Mustafa Mosque, alongside the destruction of the Seleta St. Gabriel Church.
“We Were on the Ground!! They Wiped Out Scores”
Speaking on condition of anonymity following the EHRC’s whitewash, a senior official from the Aseko District Church Diocese didn’t mince words:
“We actually went to the massacre sites. The number of dead is massive.”
The official clarified that while one Muslim resident was tragically among the casualties, the total number of murdered victims exceeds 50.
“282 homes and a church were torched,” the official added, noting that recent assessments show the number of displaced people has now skyrocketed past 2,500. “As for the property destroyed? It is simply beyond measure.”The Blatant Disconnect
When challenged on the glaring discrepancy between the Commission’s claim of “three” dead and the Church’s figure of “over 50,” the local church official shut down the EHRC’s narrative completely.
He confirmed that the diocese had explicitly provided the Commission with the exact figure of 52 dead and over 2,500 displaced.
“We didn’t rely on hearsay,” the official snapped. “We compiled hard data directly from the displaced survivors—we know exactly how many children they lost, and how many of their family members were butchered.”The official completely dismissed the EHRC’s report as an offensive fabrication:
“It is completely detached from reality. It is erroneous, unconscionable, and flat-out wrong. Even government officials came to the site and saw the truth with their own eyes.”
