Two prominent voices in Cross River State have called on Governor Bassey Otu to take decisive action against recurring communal clashes, warning that the persistent bloodshed threatens the peace, security, and development of the state.
In the last three months, several lives and properties in Etono 2 and Biakpan communities in Biase LGA were lost over lingering land disputes.
Last week, the age-long conflict between Alesi, Ekukunela and Agbaragba communities in Ikom LGA, and Ochon, Isabang and Odonget in neighbouring Obubra LGA resurfaced and has claimed increasing numbers of lives and properties.
Reacting, former presidential aide, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, an APC stalwart, said the latest violence between Ochon in Obubra Local Government Area and Alesi in Ikom LGA is “one too many” and must be confronted with ruthless firmness.
According to him, colonial authorities once employed surveyors, foresters, and soldiers to properly delineate boundaries based on ancestral arrangements, thereby reducing disputes.
He lamented that today, weakened traditional institutions and dishonest community leaders have worsened tensions by attempting to redraw long-standing boundaries.
“The government has failed to demonstrate sufficient willpower against savage anarchists and nihilists who operate in rural communities. There can be no development if these flashpoints are not addressed,” Obono-Obla declared, urging the Otu administration to “bare its fangs—decisively and ruthlessly.”
Also speaking, former chairman of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in Cross River, Anthony Bissong Attah, accused the state government of treating the ongoing clashes with “kids’ gloves” while lives and property are being lost.
He raised a series of concerns about the state’s handling of the crisis, asking how many lives have already been lost, the scale of destruction recorded, and what concrete steps have been taken to resettle displaced persons.
Attah particularly queried why Governor Otu has not undertaken an on-the-spot assessment of the flashpoints, stressing that the situation demands seriousness, not political rhetoric or “eye service.”
“The people of these communities are unsafe, their lives shattered, and their future uncertain. It is time for His Excellency to take the issues confronting the state seriously. There is too much blood in the land,” Attah stated.
The two stakeholders agreed that enough is enough, insisting that the government must end the cycle of communal violence once and for all if Cross River State is to have any chance of stability and progress.
Last week, Deputy Governor, Peter Odey said the government has decided to deploy security operatives to the controversial communities and will take over the disputed lands as part of the measures to contain the mayhem.
Odey said the move by the government was to permanently end the recurring clashes.
He stressed that peace, safety and collective wellbeing of citizenry remained sacrosanct, urging elders, youths and community leaders to embrace reconciliation, cooperate with security agencies and desist from further hostilities.
