by crossriverwatch admin
Another inter communal conflict between the people of Nko in Yakuur Local Government Area and their counterparts in Onyadama in Obubra local Government Area which two years ago claimed many lives and several properties recurred with greater ferocity this last week.
The conflict which has been raging since Thursday last week, a reliable source in the area told crossriverwatch, started when an Nko man allegedly killed an Oyadama woman in the farm following misunderstanding over a parcel of farm land. “The man killed the woman removed her intestines and head because the two of them were struggling over a piece of land”
The killing reportedly sparked the rage of the Onyadama people who invaded Nko and killed over six people in retaliation leading to full scale communal conflict. “The Calabar – Ikom highway was blocked for two days until soldiers were brought into the area” our source said.
The conflict has left the two communities desolate as the villagers have since fled to seek refuge in neighboring communities while combatants from both communities are in the bush and are carrying out raids on each other at will. “The two communities are very truculent and ready to invade the other at the slightest opportunity”.
When crossriverwatch visited the area on Saturday afternoon, soldiers were seen manning check points at strategic positions in the two communities particularly on the Calabar- Ikom highway in sections of the two communities where the highway passes through.
Mr. Rekpene Bassey the Cross River State Security Adviser said the primary concern of government was to ensure peace and normalcy returns to the area and “as I speak to you now we are making spirited efforts to ensure normalcy prevails in the area”.
Rekpene who said he had been to the area said government was not happy that land dispute is being used as a cover to kill and assured that “the security situation is now normal and people can carry out their businesses within the communities and pass through the Calabar –Ikom highway”.
DSP John Umoh, the spokesman of the Cross River State police Command said only one life was lost and “efforts are being made with the assistance of the traditional ruler of the area to arrest the culprits”.
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