C/River clash victims : ‘We have no homes to return to’

“Nowhere to go back to, nowhere to call home again. We have lost everything.” This is the common narrative by most of the residents displaced in the communal clash which engulfed two communities of Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State that are currently taking refuge at the border villages of Oju in Benue […]

“Nowhere to go back to, nowhere to call home again. We have lost everything.”

This is the common narrative by most of the residents displaced in the communal clash which engulfed two communities of Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State that are currently taking refuge at the border villages of Oju in Benue State.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the deadly clash, which occurred penultimate week between the blood-related Wanihem and Wanikade communities of Yala area, led to the loss of many lives, destruction of property and forced survivals to flee their abodes.

Particularly, over 5,000 of the Wanihem people, mainly women and children moved into the surrounding neighbouring Adudu-Owo in Oju LGA of Benue State.

A mother of four, Obok Anthonia, said she fled her Wanihem-Idah home two weeks ago after a fight broke out between her people and those of Wanikade over land.

“We including husband and children, trekked for three hours to get to Adudu-Owo. The people here have treated us well. They initially accommodated us in their houses and provided us with food until our numbers outweighed their provisions. Then, some of us had to sleep outside with no food and at the mercies of mosquitoes,” Anthonia said.

For mother of two, Victoria Usili, who lost some relatives to the bloody war between the two communities, it would remain traumatic for her, having watched three of her family houses set ablaze by a warring faction and trekking for three hours through bush paths with her little kids in order to save their lives.

Usili, however, said they were well received by their neighbours of Adudu-Owo despite the difference in language. “These Igede people are good. They gave us food,” she added.

On the part of Gladys Lom, 35, who lost her husband to the crisis, life would never be the same again for her and her two children as everything seemed to have turned upside down for her family.

She said: “The attackers came to our house on June 29, they hacked my husband to death because he refused to relinquish his farmland to them. They killed him, destroyed our home and now I have nowhere to return to.”

Similarly, Mama Okpata Obok, who fought to suppress tears while narrating their ordeal, disclosed that her first son, married with four children, was killed during the fight.

Obok said her late son who was first of three children died at the battle field after being shot severally on his stomach.

The bitter tales were also relayed by Matthew Ugbam, a farmer and John Francis, a mechanic, both of who lost some property but were fortunate to escape with their families.

“We trekked for at least two hours to get here. We ran away from war. The crisis has left an indelible mark on us. We can’t count how many people were killed; we also lost our shops, farmlands and houses. We have wives and four children each,” the duo stated.

In the same vein, spokesman of the displaced people and camp leader, Ogar Celestine, who put the figure of the displaced spread across five different locations in Oju, at 5,000, noted that their host community treated them with dignity and hospitality.

According to him, when peace was gradually beginning to be brokered among the warring communities, some of those who fled to the Igede speaking villages of Oju returned to their abodes in Cross River, reducing the number of people taking refuge at the camp from 5,000 to 3,000.

He added that “the people you see here (camp) now have no shelter, no place to call home again. At the moment, we need food, beddings, sanitary items and medicines.”

Celestine’s views were buttressed by the Igede Central Development Area Officer, Michael Idwo, who said he personally compiled the list of the displaced people as they trooped into his domain.

Idwo said the Oju people received the displaced victims with open mindedness because they share boundaries and have lived in peace as neighbours over the years.

On the part of the Chairman of Oju LGA, Augustine Okwoche, he was moved on sighting the plight of the displaced people, some of whom still bleeding from wounds sustained during the fight at the time of his first visit.

“It was on penultimate Monday, that the chiefs of Owo and Aibila came to the office to inform me that there were strangers in their domain and that some of the faces were familiar to them while others were not. I had to visit the area immediately to see things for myself while I got in contact with authorities of both states.

“When I got to the area, I saw the people littered everywhere in the community, they were predominantly women and children. I was amazed at the number of helpless people that I saw so I had to urgently put security in place. About four hours later, as the situation escalated, more people trooped in and I saw young men on bike arriving with wounded persons from battle fronts,” Okwoche narrated.

The chairman explained further that by the following day, five communities in his domain had been taken over by the influx of displaced victims who trooped in their numbers as the crisis escalated and he alerted the state governor’s Special Adviser on Security.  

Okwoche, who also told Daily Trust on Sunday that four babies were delivered within the first few days by the displaced people, added that the Benue State government immediately responded to the need of the victims immediately Governor Samuel Ortom was informed.

“The governor mandated the Executive Secretary of Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Boniface Ortese, to attend to the needs of the victims. My council had earlier provided immediate relief items within its financial capacity before SEMA came to the rescue.

“We had to accommodate the displaced people in churches in the area because schools were in session. Everyone in the local government rallied around the victims to provide help no matter how little as the condition involved saving lives,” the chairman said.

Okwoche, who stated that he had visited the remote areas where the victims of the crisis had been inhabiting since fleeing their homes at least seven times, also handed another batch of relief items donated by the Benue government to the displaced people in the presence of the visiting deputy governor who expressed gratitude for the show of concern.

He emphasised that apart from displaying brotherly love to the displaced victims, his council had to do what they did because of the proximity of the war-torn area to curtail a spill over.

The chairman stressed, “The close proximity of Oju in Benue where the victims are kept to the warring communities in Cross River showed likelihood that there could be spill over so we don’t have to overlook that fact. Besides, the terrain occasioned by bad roads has remained a serious challenge.

“I commend my people for how they conducted themselves and I hope to keep the displaced people in safe custody for as long as they would want to remain since they have no place to return to. I also appeal to good spirited individuals and donor agencies to come to their aid,” he said.

Meanwhile, the deputy governor of Cross River State, Professor Ivara Esu, who led a delegation of the state on a visit to the camp, lauded Benue government’s magnanimity in receiving victims of the clashes and providing for their needs.

He appreciated another round of relief items handed the victims; which comprised of bags of rice, cartons of noodles, jerry cans of vegetable oil, palm oil, mats, and detergents among others in his presence by the Benue government.

Esu conveyed the sympathy of Governor Ben Ayade to the victims and promised to report back to him the situation on ground for further action and called for sustained cordial relations between Cross River and Benue states to ensure that peace reigns, particularly in border communities of the two states.