Cross River State – Now A War Torn Zone, Although Once Peaceful

Against the backdrop of civil strife occasioned by small portion of land, which results in communal clashes in 13 communities in Cross River State, leading to 13,000 being displaced, 617 houses burnt with 27 deaths recorded. Richard Ndoma writes.

If there is anything on earth that impedes the progress of men and retards the development of mankind, it is war! This may come in form of external and internal aggression from a particular country and its neighbour. A country is said to be at war when lawlessness moves to its peak with people resorting to the killing of one another, looting and destroying property without having any second thought that actions of such nature are evil.

Whenever a country decides to engage itself or her neighbours in a war, there is tendency for development in such an environment to retard and make people who cohabits the country to become poor, thus forcing the socio-economic situation of those engaged in the war to move anti-clock wise given the fact that every economic activity in the place may be at a standstill.

Cross River State is one of the states in Nigeria that is known for its peace and serenity, right from time immemorial. This is why in the past, it was difficult for any individual to come by any media report in the print or electronic media that portrays the state as a violent entity. Tales associated with civil disturbances, assassination, kidnapping and heinous crimes of all sorts were hardly heard in the state, tales of such nature were never associated with the state. Perhaps that accounted for the reason the founding fathers of the state, in their effort to proffer meaning to Calabar, the state capital, described it as, ”Come and Live and Be At Rest (Calabar)”.

However, the reverse has become the case in recent times. The state , which was well known for its glory, is beginning to lose its glory to violence. The peace and serenity, which the state was well known for, is almost gone. For some time now, Cross River State has become a fountain for communal crises/civil disturbance. 

The level of destruction has assumed an alarming rate. At the last count beginning from January this year, 2018, the state has recorded 27 deaths even though critics of the government have a different figure, 617 houses burnt to ashes with about 13,000 individuals who hitherto reside in the state being displaced, a development, which tends to increase the number of Internally Displace Person (IDPs). Cross River State Director General, State Emergency Management Agency, Mr John Inaku, stated that about 13 communities across the three senatorial districts of the state, have been ravaged by war, which occurs due to small parcel of land.

According to Inaku, who reeled out the information to our reporter, he lamented that the state government has spent about 70 million naira trying to provide succour to victims of the civil unrest, adding that items like food, medicine and clothing and make shift shelter have been provided by the state government through the state deputy governor and called on the National Boundary Commission to, without delay, wade into the matter to forestall recurrent of the civil unrest.

Inaku blamed the National Boundary Commission for failing in the area of providing beacon stones to demarcate the boundaries. He said that unless something is urgently done to salvage the situation, war will perpetually remain with Nigeria.

He said that state government has, through the army authority, dispatched troops to go and restore peace in another war, which suddenly broke out in the state between Vandeikya people of Benue State and the Obudu people of Cross River.

The SEMA DG, called on leaders of thought from all warring communities to appeal to their kinsmen not to quickly take to arms whenever disagreements ensue over small parcel of lands but learn to settle maters on round table discussion.

Those watching events in the society say that the government of the day has lost control otherwise why would there be war everywhere on daily basis without the government being able to extinguish the war?

It is common these days when flipping through the pages of newspaper to read about communal clashes which have eluded the peace of the state being chronicled down on the pages of papers concerning communities which had co-existed in the past as friends but are now at loggerheads with each other.

A top member of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Sir Joe Ekeng, chastised Prof Ben Ayade-led Government of being inept and weak to put an end to communal clashes, which according to him, have skyrocketed since Ayade’s administration came on board.The DG of SEMA said he discovered that the Izzi people of Ebonyi attacked Ukelle community three times in the 10 days he spent in the senatorial district to take stock of the extent of the damage and accused the Izzi people of putting up a violent behaviour even when the Cross River State government is working round the clock to reduce agony of the victims.

Among the losses counted by him, incurred by the victims of war in Cross River State, were buildings, farmlands, cattle and economic trees valued also at millions of naira which were brought down as a result of the civil disturbances, forcing several aged people, including women and children to be displaced compelling them to quit their place of origin to take refuge in neighbouring villages.

In Cross River State, causes of communal clashes are attributed to disputes which emanate as a result of disagreements which break out over small portions of land which cannot even be valued at a huge amount but at cheap prices. There are reported cases of matters, which have led communities into war, matters that ordinarily would have been swept under the carpet or at most, shunned by communities involved in the crises.

An example, is the case of Akparabong community in Ikom Local Government of Cross River State and her neighbouring village, Bendeghe Ekiem, which fought each other over a very small parcel of land purported to be used by a councilor from Bendeghe community for construction of a minibus top for residents of both communities to take refuge under. It was a pathetic case.

Youths from both communities resorted and accused the councillor of usurping their parcel of land, which, if valued in terms of naira and kobo, would not be close to N100,000. A crisis that forced many to their untimely graves, with many injured and several storey buildings burnt down to ashes with several cocoa stores worth millions of cash being looted during the unrest.

Recently, Esuk Mba, a community which is about 10 kilometres from Calabar, the capital city of the state, in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, had its own share of the trouble.

One of the youth leaders, Etete Offiong Bassey, was almost beaten to death by some aggrieved youth over a disagreement, which broke over levies receipt for market stalls and also for daring to oppose the candidate of their choice to occupy a chieftaincy stool in the area. The matter has caused residents of the village to desert the community for their dear lives.

As small as a parcel of land can be, locals hardly tolerate their neighbours, they quickly resort to arms, and slay people from neighbouring communities just for a mere piece of land that might not reach up to one hectare or N100, 000.00. These are simple disagreements, which could have been resolved in a round table discussion without resorting to violence.

A cursory look into the immediate and remote causes of communal clashes, which had negatively impacted on the economy of Cross River State, bringing the economy to its knees as a result of skirmishes between neighbouring communities in recent times, is attributed to cult clashes among different cult groups who flex muscles to prove their supremacy among their rival groups. On several occasions, cultists have dragged their communities to war over little scores, which could have been amicably resolved on a round table discussion just because they want to exhibit their ego.

The number of breaks of violence has wrecked pain and sour taste in the mouths of many, particularly the warring communities of Ukelle and their Izzi counterpart as each side is counting human and material loses. In what seems to look like contradiction on the number of death against the figures given by the SEMA DG, those who spoke contrary to his opinion, claimed that about 30 are said to have lost their lives in the said skirmishes with 1,500 houses razed and 8,000 aged women and children displaced, leaving the communities in tattered condition as a result of losing their yam bans, cassava farms, plantain orchards, poultry farms, and fish ponds destroyed leaving the atmosphere with no peace to breath.

Other communities who had joined the bandwagon for war in the state include Nkim and Nkum said to be brothers with the same ancestral spirit in Ikom Local Government in the central senatorial district of the state had also suffered. In 2016, about10 communities in the area fought one another just for mere piece of land.

In Yala, Oyoba village in Wanikande and Ehetzi of Wanihen communities of Ukele fought each other until soldiers came and rescued them. In Obubra, inyima and their neighboring village of Onyedama, Owakande the villages fought and left several injured.

In Ogoja, Ukpe and Mgbegede, Yakkur Nko and Mkpani villages of chief of Naval staff, Ita Ibok Ibas and the community of the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani and former governor, Clement Ebri of Cross River State, also took to each other’s throats for mere parcel of land leaving many scores with various degrees of injuries.

In Obudu where the governor of the state, Prof Ben Ayade hails from, Kutia and Okurtong were not left out in the fighting spree as theirs was in 2012.

In retrospect, the communities involved in these skirmishes have always had longstanding relationship in terms of co-habiting on the same land peacefully until disagreement broke out when claims and counterclaims of mistrust, land grabbing and oppressive tendencies crept in, leaving many dead with houses erected with hard earned currency razed down to ashes; scores of livestock, economic trees and farmlands being smashed down.

The war had brought a big burden to the federal government as it is forced to overstretch the security agents and government has to spend extra money to mobilise soldiers and anti-riot policemen to places of disturbances. Perhaps this accounts for the reason several policemen have been stationed in the troubled areas like the Abakaliki- Ogoja Trans Sahara Highway.

Unfortunately, security agents in that axis seem to have turned the place to an extortion point as the obstacles mounted at several points on the road are being turned to collection points for illegal receipts of taxes from motorists who ply that route with the security agents doing the contrary to the reason for which they were assigned to the checkpoints without stopping youths in the area from engaging in squabbles and acts inimical to the peace of the area.

Mr John Odama an indigene of Ukelle, who claimed to be one of the warriors, said he migrated to Calabar, the state capital, as a result of the skirmishes to live with his elder brother. According to him, on a visit to the village, one could hardly see any building that was still complete and good for habitation, stressing that almost every one had fled the village because of the level of destruction, saying no human local had remained in the village except the soldiers who are seen at strategic checkpoints.

Those watching affairs in the state claimed that the number of wars, which has eluded the peace in the state, could have been averted if certain rules of agreements reached by community founding fathers were kept.

Just as in the war which broke out between Ukelle in Cross River State and Izzi in Ebonyi State about two weeks ago, if both communities had kept the content of agreement reached by previous administrations of Dr Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State and that of Donald Duke of Cross River State, as a result of the peace which was brokered by the then two governors, the war would have been averted.

On why the war in Ukelle and Izzi broke out, the warrior maintained that Izzi youths were to be blamed for the crises that happened two weeks ago stressing that in March 2017, yams which were sprouting in the farm of one of their community chiefs by name Chief Stephen Odom, was butchered by Izzi youths and they didn’t react, adding that Ukelle community reported the matter to the police who were in the area.

Unfortunately, nothing was done to pacify the owner of the farm. Again, the warrior added that in January this year 2018, more farmlands belonging to his kinsmen were destroyed in Okpodon Ntrigom along with the house of one Mr James Obo and another building belonging to Malachy Odom was also destroyed by violent Izzi youths whose stock in trade was to ferment trouble.

He said that the neighbours of Izzi had brought them pain and anguish to the extent that they didn’t know what to do but to defend themselves.

However, apart from the former governor of Cross River State, Sen Liyel Imoke, the current senator representing Cross River Central at the National Assembly, former FCT police boss, Mr Lawrence Alobi, and Gen Moses Obi Rtd, Sen Victor Ndoma-Egba, who were said to have made several efforts to resolve the skirmishes by calling several warring factions to see reasons why taking up arms should not be seen as a necessity in settling disagreements, the state government, under the watch of the state deputy governor, who is now the acting governor, Prof Ivara Esu, made a visit to the Ukelle community where food items and medical attention were given to the displaced people through the state Primary Health Care Development Agency under the auspices of Dr Betta Edu.

The acting governor told the people that war was not a better way to resolve conflict, adding that matters are better resolved on a round table discussion instead of resorting to violence, which dragged the entire community to untold hardship or instant death.

But the Police Public Relations officer, (PPRO) Irene Ugbo, in her reaction to allegations by some members of the public that the police was not doing enough in the business of protecting lives and property , debunked the allegations and said that the police had always worked round the clock to ensure peace and stability reign in the land, adding that a detachment of Mobil policemen have been dispatched to tackle the situation in the war torn area and called on the state government to collaborate with authority of the police command so that sanity can be restored in the war torn areas in the state.