By Ogar Monday; House of Assembly Correspondent
The speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Honorable John Lebo (PDP Abi) has stated that the state currently experiences the highest number of communal clashes and that there is an urgent need to end the phenomenon once and for all.
Mr. Lebo said with the situation on ground, there is an urgent need for the executive, judiciary and the legislators to act very fast to end the pockets of communal clashes that is bedeviling the state from all angles.
“We are having the highest number of communal clashes now,” Lebo said Wednesday in Calabar during plenary after Honorable Eteng Williams (PDP Yakurr 2) raised a matter of urgent importance on the crisis between Inyima and Oyadama, where he said that there is the need for the state to set up a commission of enquiry to look into these matters.
Mr. Williams said that on April 6, 2018 the people of Inyima in Yakurr local government area were attacked by the Onyadama community in Obubra local government area which led to the killing of 5 persons and the destruction of properties.
He prayed on the house to move a resolution to force the government to properly demarcate the boundaries between these communities and put a permanent end to the crisis.
Also, Honorable Okpeche Friday (PDP Obubra 1) said he was tired of speaking about the issues and begged the Governor, Senator Ben Ayade to call on the relevant government agencies to act to end this crisis.
He averred that the land under dispute is on major road where innocent commuters have continuously lost their lives.
The house the resolved that: “1. The Cross River State House of Assembly should take an on the spot assessment visit to the communities and see the level of damage.
“2. The State Government should setup a commission of enquiry head by a judge to look into the cause of these crises.
“3. All elected, appointed political office holders, the Divisional Police Officers in the affected communities, political elites from the affected communities and the State Security Adviser should appear before the house to offer explanations.”
It will be recalled that CrossRiverWatch had reported that five communities were engulfed in the war barely 24 hours after the renewed crisis between Inyima and Onyadama communities.