Four pictures were shared on Twitter on May 22, 2023, supporting a claim that the images show recently demolished mosques in the Oromia region by the government. The post stated that government buildings were being instead constructed in the areas where the mosques previously stood.
The Twitter post further claims that the Ethiopian government recently knocked down five mosques in Oromia and more than 35 religious places have been deliberately demolished since the ascent of Ahiy Ahmed (PhD) to premiership.
The Addis Ababa city administration and the Oromia regional government have been demolishing allegedly illegal houses in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas in Oromia. The government says that the houses being pulled down were illegally constructed.
The administration of the newly established city of Sheger has recently demolished many illegal houses on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The city administration claimed that it was knocking down illegally constructed housings.
Furthermore, there were unconfirmed reports that religious buildings such as mosques and churches were bulldozed during a recent ‘illegal houses demolition’ campaign launched by the Sheger city administration, in the Oromia region.
On May 18, 2023, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council wrote a letter to Prime Minister Abiy complaining about the alleged demolition of mosques in Sheger City.
In this context, a Twitter post came up with four images claiming that the Ethiopian government recently demolished five mosques in Oromia and was constructing government buildings instead.
HaqCheck looked into the images and found out that the pictures were old and had no connection with the claim.
The pictures show the al-Nejashi Mosque, an old mosque, damaged due to shelling during the war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The images were published by different news outlets and across social media platforms.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim False as it used inaccurate images to support it.
