Lawyers urge IG to probe traditional rulers over allegation of gun-running in Cross River community

A team of lawyers led by former Special Adviser on Prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate clan heads and village heads in Ebom community of Abi LGA, Cross River State.

They were accused of involvement in gunrunning and financing intermittent communal hostilities against the Ebijakara people in the same LGA.

The call was made in their petition dated June 17, 2024, following the recent arrest of Solomon Christian Okori from Ebom.

He was apprehended with heavy and sophisticated weapons by James Musa from Taraba State, who accused him and the clan head and other village heads of financing him.

Obono-Obla stated, “The purpose of this petition is to bring to the Inspector General of Police’s attention the disturbing developments, which may provide a clue to the incidents of January 2006 and the ongoing instability in the region, marked by intermittent communal violence and hostilities that have resisted government intervention.”

The lawyers clarified that they were representing the Ebijakara people as their legal counsels, requesting a thorough investigation into the alleged gunrunner, James Musa of Taraba State, and his alleged recruiter, Solomon Christian Okori, who is currently at large and an indigene of Ebom.

Meanwhile, the suspect James Musa, arrested by operatives of the State Security Adviser to the Cross River State Governor on June 11, 2024, had confessed openly, insisting that Solomon Christian Okori paid for the guns he brought into Ebom community.

Investigations have revealed that hostility between Ebom and Ebijakara communities began in January 2006, with Ebom allegedly displacing the entire Ebijakara community and leveling their houses.

They purportedly recruited, financed, and deployed a militia armed with sophisticated weaponry, including dynamite and assault rifles, which launched a devastating assault on Ebijakara community.

Sources said the Ebijakara people are now refugees in neighboring communities such as Usumutong, Ediba, Ugep, Biase, and Calabar.

It is noted that the militia from Ebom still occupies the ruins of Ebijakara and has seized all surrounding lands belonging to Ebijakara.

“More than five hundred people from Ebijakara were allegedly massacred by the Ebom militia,” according to a source.

The Cross River State Government had previously established a Judicial Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice S. Obi to investigate the causes of the violence. The government issued a white paper, but no action has been taken on it.

Obono-Obla said, “The state government’s ambiguous and indifferent stance has emboldened the Ebom community.”

David Etta, the representative for Abi LGA and an Ebom indigene, mentioned that peace has returned to both communities in recent years, as he and other stakeholders have intensified peace talks.

Bassey Eyo Bassey from the University of Calabar, also an Ebom indigene, stated, “The arrest of the gunrunner in Ebom community has no connection to the unfortunate events between Ebom and Ebijakara communities since January 11, 2006.”