Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the attempted coup in Ethiopia which claimed the lives of the President of Amhara region and the country’s army chief.
Reports said a “hit squad” led by Amhara’s security chief Asaminew Tsige stormed a meeting in the state offices of Amhara’s capital, Bahir Dar, on Saturday and shot the President of the region Ambachew Mekonnen, and his adviser, Ezez Wassie. In what appeared like a coordinated attack, the chief of staff of the national security forces Seare Mekonnen and a retired general were killed by his bodyguard in Addis Ababa.
Reacting to the incident in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, ex-President Jonathan emphasized that “nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of the citizens in Ethiopia or any other nation.”
In a statement issued Sunday, the former President said: “I have long said, believed and practised the principle that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any citizen. As such, it bleeds my heart when there is unnecessary and avoidable bloodshed, as has just happened in Ethiopia.”
While condemning the attempted coup against the democratically elected Ethiopian government Jonathan further said: “I go further to call on men and women of goodwill around the world to also condemn such anti-democratic actions and show solidarity to the democratically elected constitutional order in Ethiopia.
“Democracy has come to rest in Africa. Constitutionality and the rule of law are what we in Africa need, especially in the cradle of civilisation and the melting pot of the African Union.
“May God bless Africa and may He be with the government and people of Ethiopia at such a trying time.”
