Fmr. President Obasanjo Jets Out To Ethiopia ‘For Mediation’

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

Nigeria’s ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is on his way to Ethiopia to mediate in the conflict between the government and the northern Tigray region, his spokesman has said.

“He is on his way to Addis Ababa for talks,” Kehinde Akinyemi confirmed to AFP on Monday.

“He is going there for mediation,” Akinyemi said on the visit of the former Nigerian leader to the Ethiopian capital, without giving further details.

Although both the Ethiopian government and the African Union have said there is no information on any visit by Obasanjo, who has previously acted as a United Nations peace envoy in DR Congo.

Ethiopia’s central government announced a military operation in the northern Tigray region on November 4 in a dramatic escalation of a long-running feud with the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

The fighting — which has sent thousands fleeing over the border into Sudan — has sparked fears of civil war and concerns it could spread across the region after rockets were fired at an airport in neighbouring Eritrea.

The attack on Saturday was claimed by TPLF which has accused Eritrea of backing the government.