25th October, 2010
Three soldiers drafted from the Recce Battalion, Ikom in Cross River State to calm communal hostilities between the warring communities of Nsadop and Bansan in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State were killed on Sunday morning when their truck came under attack from the combatants.
The outbreak of hostilities between the two communities followed squabbles over ownership of portions of the oil palm plantation located at the border between the two communities. The oil palm was planted in the early 70s by the Michael Okpara regime when he was premier of the South East region.
Sophisticated weapons manned by retired military personnel are being used by both sides to wage the battle which has so far left over twenty persons dead and several residential homes and commercial houses destroyed.
Senator Liyel Imoke, the governor of the state and his deputy, Barrister Efiok Cobham, alongside Mr. Sunny Abang, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Caribbeans visited the warring communities on Sunday evening to express displeasure over the carnage and devastation caused by the conflict.
Imoke called on the combatants to lay down their arms and return to their homes to pave way for the return of peace.
He said he was not pleased with the atrocities committed by both sides and asked that the chiefs of both sides to be arrested and taken to Calabar.
The intervention of the governor stopped the action of the soldiers who sources said had besieged the area ostensibly to avenge the killing of their colleagues by the warring communities.
Communal conflict occurs frequently in parts of the state as communities often fight over farming rights on the vast arable land which cover the state.
In January this year, the people of Ukurushi and their Okworogwong neighbours along the Ranch Resort road in Obudu engaged one another in bloody battles. The people of Nkim and Nkum along the Ikom –Ogoja highway in Ikom Local Government Area also fought one another not long ago.
The current warring communities in Boki occupy portions of land close to the Ikom -Obudu highway, the route through which athletes to the Obudu Mountain Race scheduled for the middle of November will go through.
—Emma Una/Calabar
