The police command in Cross River on Friday said it had not confirmed any death from the renewed boundary clash between a community in the state and another neighboring community in Ebonyi.
The communities are Ukelle community in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River and Izzi community in Ebonyi.
Spokesperson of the command, DSP Irene Ugbo, told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that the police were yet to confirm any loss of life in the clash which started on Thursday.
“For now, we have not gotten any report of any loss of life. As of yesterday, the Commissioner of police asked the Divisional Police Officer in the area to increase the man power in the area.
“We have not recorded any death yet. The people are trying to regroup when the police swung in and scattered them.
“But, I will keep NAN informed as soon as I get more details from the DPO in the affected area,’’ she said.
But, a native of Ukelle, Mr Andrew Idele, who brought in his injured brother for treatment at the University of Calabar Teaching hospital, Calabar, alleged that their Izzi neighbors from Ebonyi, attacked them early hours of Thursday morning.
Idele told NAN that the presence of security personnel in the area was inadequate.
“The Izzi people attacked us in the early hours of Thursday. There was so much firing, planning to bring down the whole Ukelle community. But we resisted them.
“Some of our people are injured. Those whose injury demand medical treatment are in Calabar while others are in orthopedic homes. Currently, there is no loss of live
“There are soldiers in the area, but they are not doing enough to arrest the situation,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the clash which had lingered between the two communities over the years came to an head with a peace initiative meeting late 2018 between governments of Cross River and Ebonyi, led by the deputy governors of the two states.
(NAN)
