‘This is matter of life and death,’ Cross River indigenes oppose Ruga settlements

The Cross River State Chapter of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, in conjunction with the All Cross River State Nationals Front on Monday advised the Nigerian Government to shelve the planned Ruga settlements in the region.

The group strongly warned that Cross River State had no land for the proposed RUGA/Cattle Colony being allegedly forced on the federating states of Nigeria by the Federal authorities, insisting that attempt to cede any state in the region to Ruga will lead to crisis.

Speaking with journalists on Monday, the secretary of the group, Engr. Bassey Ekefre rejected the proposal, adding that most states in the Niger-Delta region, especially Cross River acted as a reserve for many endangered species.

He said, among others, “We call on the state Governor, Senator (Prof) Ben Ayade to speak and stand up for the people of Cross River State, by telling the Federal Government clearly and timely that Cross River totally rejects the very idea of RUGA settlements and will offer no land or cooperation for that purpose.

“This is neither politics nor diplomacy. This is a matter of life and death, and the State Governor must rise up and speak for the peoples of Cross River State.

Read also: RUGA: Fayemi assures anxious landowners in Ekiti over alleged takeover by ‘outsiders’

“The State Governor must mobilize every constitutional arsenal at his disposal to ensure the full protection of the ancestral lands, forests, waterways and heritage of peoples of Cross River State now.”

He added, “Besides our complete and vehement rejection of the idea and intention of the rogue program, the government will require about four fifths of the state to create one such settlement going by the proposed forbidden dimensions of the settlements.

“Cross River State is already host to wild life reserves, a federal government/ United Nations program which has prohibited the citizens from accessing large portions of land for agricultural and commercial purposes.

“The struggle for the remaining arable land among our burgeoning population of over six million has often led to communal strife and conflicts during farming seasons.”

Insisting that the State had no land to spare for settlers, Ekefre said:

“It is important for us to remind the Federal Government that the civil war raging on in South West Cameroon has left Cross River with a heavy burden to bear as hundreds of thousands of refugees from the so called Republic of Ambazonia have flooded into Boki, Ikom, Ogoja, Yala, Bekwarra, Obudu and Obanliku local government areas of Cross River State.

“It will therefore be mindless and downright insulting for anybody to further contemplate a fresh land – grabbing scheme or ingress of more settlers into our state.

“We wish to advise the Federal Government to focus more on Northern states which have large expanses of empty land with low population density for the proposed program, while embracing modern technology in irrigation to solve the challenge of desertification.”

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