7 die in C-River communal clash

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

CALABAR—NO fewer than seven persons were feared dead in a renewed communal clash between the people of Adadama and Igbo Amabana in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State.

It was gathered that hostilities between the neighbouring communities started on Sunday night and raged till Monday, as the two communities in a show of supremacy attacked each other with guns and matchetes.

The conflict, according to sources, was as a result of a long standing dispute over the ownership of a parcel of farm land which borders both communities.

On Tuesday afternoon, the lifeless bodies of three men were seen at Adadama along the Ugep – Abomege Road, which leads to Ebonyi State.

*File photo:  A similar clash in Lagos.

A Mobile policeman, who did not want his name in print, but on duty to maintain peace in the area, said: “Apart from these ones you are seeing on the road, there are about four (dead bodies) inside the villages which I saw.”

Investigations revealed that communal conflicts have become a common phenomenon among neighbouring communities in the area during farming seasons.

Meanwhile the affected villages of Adadama and Igbo Amabana, Igbo Ekureku and Afagara, in the recent communal clash, have become ghost towns as the villagers have all fled for fear of arrest by the detachment of anti-riot policemen in the communities.

“Many of them have fled to Ugep and some to Abomege in Ebonyi State. Anyone seen around here would be taken to Calabar to explain the senseless violence. Don’t forget that the governor is from this local government area.They have no respect for him,” a villager said.

The state  Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. John Umoh, said a team of Mobile policemen had been dispatched to the warring communities, adding that from the reports available to him, normalcy had been restored to the area.