The peace of the dusty community of
Nsadop in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State was disrupted
last August when men from Boje, a neighbouring community, invaded
Nsadop and practically destroyed it over a land dispute.
The noon raid left many dead with
houses and economic trees destroyed. The invasion took place when all
the able-bodied men and women in the village had gone to the farm.
Children and the elderly left behind were killed and houses set ablaze,
leaving everywhere in ruin.
But the Cross River State government
has begun the rehabilitation of this war-ravaged, cocoa-producing
community through the donation of thousands of bags of cement, zinc,
sand, gravel, nails and other building materials.
Speaking through his special adviser on
Special Duties, Zana Akpagu, who was at the refugee camp in Nsadop
recently, the state governor, Liyel Imoke, said his coming marked the
commencement of the rehabilitation process.
Mr. Imoke explained that the
destruction that warranted government’s intervention was pathetic,
hence the current rehabilitation efforts by the state government to
make the inhabitants get settled back in their ancestral homes.
According to him, the situation the
displaced people have found themselves in, demanded the full support of
the government at all levels in order to guarantee better living for
them, since they did not retaliate the attack as directed by the state
government.
He said government’s primary mandate
was the welfare of its people and that it would be out of place to look
the other way while the people suffered, while appealing to them to
ensure that all whose houses were affected benefited from the building
materials.
He reassured the community that
government will work extra hard in rehabilitating the people
considering that the rainy season would soon commence.
Over 400 houses were destroyed and thousands of persons including women and children displaced at the end of the invasion.
Reward for restraint
In his speech, the director general,
Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Vincent Aquah,
commended the community for its high level of cooperation with SEMA
officials in the intervention programme and called for more cooperation.
Mr. Aquah urged the people to remain
committed to the process as more relief materials including building
materials, foodstuff, mattresses and blankets would soon be delivered
to the community for distribution.
Responding to the government’s gesture,
the chairman of the Nsadop Rehabilitation Committee, Mr. Edi Nyam said
that the state and federal governments’ commitment to the
rehabilitation of Nsadop was unprecedented.
He observed that the people were
passing through untold hardship on account of the disaster that befell
them recently. The community leader said they have high hopes of
reconstructing their houses with the assistance of the state and
federal governments and philanthropic organisations.
Mr. Nyam assured that the people will continue to give the necessary support to enhance the rehabilitation process.
