Two Dead As Community Crisis Hit Cross-River State

Information reaching CrossRiverWatch suggests that two Boki east communities; Okwabang and Beebo are currently at war.

Boki is located in central Cross River State and hosts a vast amount of the state’s rainforest reserve.

And, despite the presence of the Police and officials of the Nigerian Army, two have been killed in a war between both communities which began on Thursday.

The Okwabang and Beebo communities have disagreed over land matters for decades and recently, tensions rose following suspicions that the Beebo community was harvesting commodities at a farm allegedly belonging to an Okwabang man.

This heightened on Thursday when an Okwabang man (unnamed) is said to have accosted a group of Beebo aborigines harvesting from his farm and one Beebo native was left dead after a disagreement which led to a shootout.

“The Okwabang man then ran to the community and reported himself. The community then took him to the Bateriko police station and he was kept on custody,” a native told CrossRiverWatch.

He continued: “One Okwabang native who had no inkling of what was going on was then ambushed and shot dead by Beebo natives who had gone to mobilize for a reprisal.”

The Paramount Ruler of Boki is said to have attempted intervention but stopped halfway when he got information that visiting Beebo after leaving Okwabang will be catastrophic.

Several calls to the phone line of the Police Spokesperson in the state, Mrs. Irene Ugbo were not taken on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

But, Government House sources say the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa had been notified and he called the Divisional Police Officer in Boki to swing into action.

As at press time, Police sources said two vans loaded with Policemen were dispatched to the area with soldiers from the Recce Battalion in Ikom also deployed to the area.

However, this could not be independently verified as a text message to Mrs. Ugbo, an Assistant Superintendent of Police on Saturday morning was neither acknowledged nor replied.

Also, unconfirmed information suggests both communities still have armed fighters in the bush.