By Etido Okon
The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Cross River State has condemned in entirety the resurfaced communal crisis between Ofatura and Ovonum Communities in Obubra LGA of the State.
The State Chairman of NYCN, Dan Obo Jnr said communal conflicts which are becoming a ritual in various communities in the State are due to government negligence to put them to rest.
In a statement he made available to CrossRiverWatch, Obo who is an indigene of Obubra averred that communal wars have gone unabated due to both the state and Local government’s inability to come out with a lasting solution to it, adding that they wade in when major damages have been done.
“I was passing by and I stopped between Ofatura and Ovonum, like seriously it is a terrible situation, it is a terrible situation to the extent that we saw houses burnt, people are already stranded, people no longer have where to stay, as I speak with you, at the Council Headquarter field, people are running, trying to seek refuge in one way or the other, that is how sad the situation is and the most terrible part of it is that these two communities share common boundaries and if they share common boundaries and they have lived for this years, we wonder why they will fight.
“I will give you an example, when I was chairman of the local government Youth Council, the Hausa community and the Ogbono people almost fought because of the same reason, it was a youthful intervention that saved that situation, you can go and find out from the then Chairman of Council Reverend Chris Obase.
Dan who was one-time Obubra Council Chairman, continued: “For me, it is a leadership problem, you can’t take that away from our local government, it is a leadership problem, it is terrible, it is sympathetic.
“We thank the governor for the curfew, we are already talking to our young people to pull out of the war, I am confident that this will never repeat itself.
“I pray that our leaders step up their game and make sure that issues regarding boundaries are settled.”
He said many communities would have developed and become a city but the destructive nature of communal wars has left them underdeveloped and in ruins.
His words: “Apiapum as a community is supposed to be developed as much as Ikom is but it is this same war that made it the way it is till today, now it has grown to the point where Ofatura is beginning to develop and there is war again against their self, It is terrible, I feel pained, I feel sad, our prayer is that this should never happen to us anymore.
“I tell you the truth, the security agencies were on top of their game, as today they wouldn’t have been Ofatura again, and there wouldn’t have been Ovonum again if not for the intervention of the security agency and its sister agency.
“On a very serious note, I was shocked, it happened in less than a few minutes, and the entire communities were taken over by military presence, which helped to curtail the level of destruction that would have happened.
“On behalf of all of us as youths of Cross River State and of course as youths of the local government, we complement the effort of the security Agencies and our prayer is that they remain firm and ensure that we do not kill ourselves anymore.”
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