The opposition party leader of the Ethiopian Citizens for Justice, Chane Kebede was arrested on Sunday in the country’s capital Adis Ababa.
The party Head of Legal and Organisational Affairs Soyoum Mengesha on Tuesday, said Kebede was whisked away on Sunday while he was chilling with a friend, and his home and office ransacked.
He said the reason behind the arrest is not immediately known, but Kebede is still in custody.
“We do not know why he was arrested. There are rumours it may be related to the violence in the Amhara region and the current state of emergency,” Mengesha said, adding that the party President was taken away by unidentified people whose vehicles had no number plates.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government declared a six-month state of emergency in Amhara in early August, following a deadly clash between federal forces and and a local militia group identified as the Fano.
The state of emergency was imposed as a measure to curtail the spreading conflict, by empowering authorities to have a firm grip on the people.
Fano militants staged an attack on Gondor, the Amhara’s most populated city on Sunday. The federal army, however, said it repelled the attacks.
