By Emma Una

CALABAR—Three persons have been reported killed over a land dispute between Alessi, a community in Ikom Local Government Area, and Isabang in Obubra Local Government Area, both of Cross River State.

According to a chief in the village of Ofutop, Asoebi, the age-long dispute “has been the cause of the clashes between the two villages, which has always led to killings and destruction of property by combatants from both sides and this time, about three people have been killed and several others injured.”

He said that the latest clash took place in the forest, where youths from both communities met and attacked each other with machetes.

Mr. Ayiba Ojong, the Chairman of Ikom council, who confirmed the dispute, told Vanguard that the land in contention was taken over by the state government many years ago “as a buffer zone among all the bordering communities in the area, but has continued to remain neglected which had given the villages the opportunity to continue to farm on the land.”

He said that the recent squabble was caused by efforts by the contending communities to grab more land to expand their farmland, since the forest was considered government land.

According to him, “each of the contending communities felt it is their land that was taken over by the government and therefore, have a right to grab more portions for their farming activities and this led to the clash.”

He said nobody died in the conflict, but several people sustained injuries and were taken to hospital in Obubra and Ikom.