There was looting of banks and businesses, and also the burning of a church in Jijiga, the Somali regional capital. The Federal army is occupying the city while Illey is holed up at the Liyuu Police headquarters with thousands of loyal armed men. The main question is how did we get here. .
In order for smooth transition, the Abiy government was supposed to remove Illey quietly and transfer power orderly until an inclusive election takes place. There are two reports that is coming from Jijiga. On the first view, A human right campaigner who fought with the Illey government and recorded his atrocities told me this morning that Illey was summoned to appear in Addis tribunal investigating the crimes he committed with the help of TPLF security apparatus. Illey refused and claimed that every thing he did was coordinated with the TPLF military and intelligence. Just like America used to use dictators for their benefit and then throwing him to the wolfs at the end. Saddam Huseen, Shah of Iran and others are examples.
As usual, the TPLF who used him for over a decade have decided to make him the only culprit or they do not want to allow him to spill the beans and tell the world how the TPLF operated. Mengistu Hailemaruim who murdered more people than anyone in Africa was exiled for the benefit of the Ethiopian peaceful and orderly transition in 1991.The question is why Abiy is destabilizing the Somali region at this time while he had a lot of options to use?. Why wait until the last minute?.
It is either the weakness of the current political order or the usual suspects---America, UAE and others ---advising him to visit chaos another region inhabited by Somalis. Some people believe that the new gas deposits worth 30 trillion cubic of natural gas could trigger the gulf boys to delay another ten years and fuel another civil in yet another Somali state. We are all tired of the usual blame Oromo first of the Somalis while failing to adjust the new order. Cabdi Illey had murdered thousands of Oromo throughout the years and they would wish his disappearance , but the issue is squarely on Illey and the Addis power who want to weaken the Somali order. Almost all Hydrocarbon deposits (Natural gas and oil) in Ethiopia are in the Somali region.
On the second report, it is all about a despot who failed to create a leadership that could have created a peaceful transition. Like most depots , Illey had only surrounded himself with followers who can't comprehend the seriousness of the matter. He had plenty of time to realize the wave of change and transfer the power peacefully. Invoking article 39 as the Titanic goes down is useless. In this scenario, Illey were told to vacate the power and come to Addis. So far, we do not know who is supposed to replace him while his parliament and government was preparing to invoke article 39. AS soon as the parliament tried to use article 39, Abiy and the army had moved in and Illey tried to use his LIyuu police to confront them. Illey is also causing instability in the heart land which might became a full fledged insurgency.
In order to keep the peace and order, the Abiy government must keep the Liyuu police , the local security and order that exists and transfer power to one of the cabinet members until an election or an inclusive parliament is convened. Any other option to give power like Ahmed Chalebi of Iraq style will lead to civil war and chaos. The disbanding of the Iraqi army destroyed the change of peace in that country after the American neocons disbanded 400,000 Iraqi force. The same thing happened in 1991, when Cumar Carte disbanded the Somali army and transferred authority to tribal rebels.
A similar scenario could take place if Abiy disbands the security and local orders in the Somali region. The unrealistic idea of disbanding the 50,000 strong Liyuu police will create instant instability and Somali tribes vying to control their territory while Ethiopia is in disarray.
WE must all celebratory the demise of the despot, but we must also watch the new developments. A quick power transfer is a must while keeping the current order in it's place. In 1991, Cali Mahdi was elected in Djibouti while the rebel leader Mohamed F. Caydiid was chasing Siyad Barre. That quick move to install a non rebel man triggered the MOgadishu civil war. Crowning a no body from the conference of the elders in Dire Dawa will cause more or worst case scenario.