Akwa Ibom Government in conjunction with National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated relief materials to 761 families of Oku Iboku which experienced communal crisis.
The materials were distributed to the victims in Itu on Thursday with the Akwa Ibom Deputy Governor, Mr Moses Ekpo, represented by the Permanent Secretary in his office, Mr Nkopuruk Ekaiko, monitoring.
Ekpo in a speech called on the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to do everything within its powers to ensure quick resolution on the Cross River/Akwa Ibom boundary crisis.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that sometime in May, residents of Oku Iboku, Itu Local Government Area, were displaced by violent invasion by their Cross River neighbours.
However, the 761 families were victims of boundary crises at Oku Iboku and Ikot Offiong communities in Cross River.
Ekpo said that given the huge losses in human lives and property, including loss of jobs and houses, it had become imperative that no effort should be spared in ending the border crisis.
The deputy governor commended NEMA for always responding to the plight of the state in critical times.
He sympathised with the victims of the attack, explaining that the items were not intended to replace the lives and property lost during the attacks, but rather to ameliorate the pains of their losses.
“The distribution of the relief materials is very symbolic.
“It represents a conscious effort by both the state and Federal Governments to empathise with the people in their moment of grief, to give them hope and a sense of belonging,’’ Ekpo said.
Ekpo urged the residents of the area to remain peaceful with their neighbours and eschew the temptation to take the law into their hands through reprisal attacks.
The Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Ahmed, said the agency had carried out post impact assessment of the area in May.
He said the agency obtained approval for relief materials to help the victims recover from the impact of the attacks.
Ahmed, who was represented by the South South Zonal Coordinator, Mr Godwin Tepikor, charged the residents to remain calm as government would do everything possible to ensure peace in the area.
Earlier, the Itu Local Government Chairman, Mr Etetim Onuk, thanked the state and Federal Governments and their relevant agencies for the relief materials, stressing that they had brought joy to the entire people of the area.
Onuk described the federal and state government’s action as being responsible and responsive to the plight of its citizens.
He used the occasion to commiserate with families who lost their loved ones and valued property during the attacks.
He also prayed for a speedy resolution of the border crisis in order to enable the people to live in peace.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Clan Head of Oku Iboku, Etebom Essien Edet Okokon, thanked the federal and state governments for coming to the rescue of the victims.
Okokon called on National Boundary Commission to expedite action toward the demarcation of the areas for lasting peace.
NAN reports that the relief materials given included: rice, beans, vegetable oil, tomatoes, garri (Cassava flakes), Maggi (Seasoning), toilet soaps, mosquito nets and mattresses. (NAN)
