Desta Gebremedhin, a journalist based in Nairobi working with the BBC has ditched his job to join the militia in the war ton Tigray region in Ethiopia.
Desta resigned from his job and proceeded to Tigray in Ethiopia.
In an internal memo, BBC warned that Desta left his job and should not be associated with the BBC in future.
“We advise that Desta should not be contacted or used in any BBC programmes,” reads the memo in part.
Gebremedhin’s wife, Weyni Abraha, indicated that she was proud of him because he had not been at peace since the breakout of the war.
Abraha stated that the journalist’s final decision was made when he went to Sudan to cover the Tigrayan refugees.
A fiery war broke in November 2020 in Tigray, Ethiopia leaving at least seven million people homeless.
With continued fighting, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, launched a military operation in the northern region of Tigray in November but it ended up worsening things.
Tigray leaders have resisted Abiy’s drive to centralize power in the federal government.
When US President Joe Biden called President Uhuru Kenyatta in February, they discussed to length the deteriorating humanitarian and human rights crises in Tigray region and the need to prevent further loss of life and ensure humanitarian access.
Biden said that this war should come to an end before it ruins the livelihoods in the region.
“The large-scale human rights abuses taking place in Tigray, including widespread sexual violence, are unacceptable and must end,” Biden told Uhuru then.
