Bassey Inyang in Calabar
Six persons in Danare community, Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State have been shot and injured by suspected militants from Bodam community in the neighbouring republic of Cameroon following the alleged invasion of the Nigeria village over land ownership dispute.
THISDAY gathered that the invasion of Danare community located about 300 kilometres from Calabar, the state capital, started on Thursday last week and continued into the weekend.
The 2002 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the ownership of Bakassi had affected over 1,000 of lands located between the boundaries between both countries from Cross River State to Borno State, which needed to be adjusted.
The state commissioner of police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, who made the disclosure on monday after paying an on-the-spot visit to Danare to assess the situation, said the injured persons were receiving treatment for injuries they sustained from the gun shots of the invading Cameroonians.
Inuwa said the dispute over ownership of vast lands used for farming bothering both communities has lingered on for some times, before it resulted in the recent skirmishes.
Inuwa said that from what they saw on ground, no live was lost as erroneously reported in some online blogs.
He said that six residents of Danare community were shot by their Cameroonian neighbours who invaded the Nigerian community.
“We found out that six persons were shots and they are currently in the hospital as the gun pellets were being removed from their body.
“They were shot by the people of Bodam village from Cameroon. We have advised the people to restore normalcy and shun all forms of crisis and allow the government to take charge.
“They told us that they were preparing to repel the attack because the Cameroonian had encroached almost 43 kilometres into their land without any permission,†the commissioner said.
The commissioner also disclosed that aside from calling on the federal government to act on the latest invasion of their farmlands, the people of Danare were appealing to the government to restore electricity in the area, drinking water, communication network and police post.
In his reaction, the member representing Boki 1 State Constituency, in the Cross River State House of Assembly, Dr. Itam Abang, said that over 1,000 cocoa, plantain and banana farms were destroyed by the Cameroonian as a result of the invasion of Danare community.
Abang appealed to the federal government to intervene in the dispute by providing the people of Danare with adequate security, and social amenities.
“When we got there, the Danare people had already mobilised for war. Luckily, we arrived on time in company with the Commissioner of Police and we had to prevail on them not to go into the forest.
“From where we were standing, we could hear gun shots because the Cameroonian had really encroached into the Danare community.
“And from what my people told me, the Cameroonian have destroyed over 1,000 of their farm lands and this is a huge lost to the farmers.
“We advised residents in the community to hold their peace that the state and federal government was going to step in with a view of restoring peace and normalcy in the area,’’ the lawmaker said.
