The Onyadama community in Cross River State‘s Obubra Local Council has accused the state government of failing to implement the findings of the 2009 Judicial Commission of Inquiry to settle a land dispute with the neighboring Nko community in Yakurr Local Council.
Since the early nineteenth century, the Onyadama tribe has been at odds with the Nko group over a property issue.
Following the recent clash between the two communities, state Governor Ben Ayade threatened to withdraw ownership of the disputed land.
The Onyadama people, however, stated yesterday at a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Calabar that they had been proclaimed proprietors of the disputed land in multiple court decisions dating back to the 1940s.
According to Mr. Festus Ntor, Chairman of the Village Council, the commission of investigation, directed by Justice Efiong (rtd), was established by former Governor Liyel Imoke in 2009, after Nko launched another attack on Onyadama.
He said: “In 2016, following another bout of conflict between the community and Inyim community, the government set up another commission of inquiry. The report did not see the light of the day. So, lack of political-will by government to do the needful, to a large extent, has actually encouraged the crisis.
“It has been widely rumoured that the state government intends to invoke the said land as a means of bringing an end to the perennial crisis. We will no doubt appreciate government’s initiatives to end the crisis.”
Former House of Assembly member, representing Obubra II and former Special Adviser on Budget, Abeng Onor, who spoke on the issue, also accused the state government, saying: “Cross River State government does not want Onyadama community to exist because they have failed several times to look at the panel report.
The Onyadama community, however, said that the way forward is for all parties to accept the outcome of the court judgment no matter how painful, respect the boundary of the land as contained in the judgments and live in peace with one another.”
