150 Killed In Cross River Clash

At least, 150 people were killed last week in the clash between Wanikade and Wanihem communities in Yala LGA of Cross River State.

The Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), John Inaku, who confirmed the figure in a statement yesterday, said 1,233 houses were destroyed and 14,000 people displaced at Ukele North in the same Yala LGA following the communal clash.

The SEMA boss said the communal clash erupted as a result of a land dispute, adding that it had created an upheaval which led to the fleeing of the inhabitants of about 41 villages to neighbouring communities in Yala and Oju LGAs in Benue State.

Four Internally Displaces Persons (IDP) camps established in Oju LGA  by the Benue State Government have been swarmed by unprecedented refuge-seeking victims from the affected communities, according to Mr Samuel Oko, secretary of the LGA, who said some of them were camped in churches, schools, and community halls.

Some of the IDPs said they arrived Oju on June 27 when the crisis escalated and had been hosted by the communities who had provided them with food and shelter.

The Cross River State SEMA and the state Food Bank Commission have however relieved them of the trauma by distributing food and non-food items to the victims of the camp, sources said. - Daily Trust