C/River Cocoa Farmer Asks DSS to Investigate Attempted Murder of Workers

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Fearing that a communal war is brewing in Etung Local Government Area of Cross River State, a Small Holder Cocoa Farmer (SHCF) in Abonita Cocoa Farm in the area, Mr. Mark Prince, has urged the state Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mrs. Roseline Izuagbe, to investigate the cause of  the alleged attack on six workers he hired to work in the farm.

Lamenting his ordeal to some journalists yesterday in Calabar, Prince said some of the injured workers are still receiving treatment in the General Hospital, Ibom , Central Cross River State, after they were attacked by a number of assailants who were armed with dangerous weapons.

He pointed fingers at a fellow cocoa farmer, Mr. Asu Njor, alleging that the latter instigated the attack of the workers on October 2, 2024, in Abonita Cocoa Plantation.

Prince, who said that the injured workers are currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Ikom, also accused Governor Bassey Otu’s Special Adviser on  Security  Matters, Major General Okoi Obono (rtd), of frustrating attempts to provide adequate security at  32 hectares Abonita Cocoa Estate, where he shared a boundary with the Government Cocoa Estate in the area.

While demanding the investigation of the attack and punishment for the assailants, Prince said: “I am calling on the state Director, Department of State Services (DSS), because there is no way you can sit at the comfort of your home, and put up a document, stopping the army that used to patrol at the Abonita axis, protecting lives and property of citizens from patrolling any longer  because  you want your personal interest to be protected.

“As I speak, if you go into the farms now, you will see Njor’s thugs parading with arms in the cocoa farm. If this is not checked, I foresee outbreak of lawlessness at Abonita axis between Agborkim and Ajassor neighboring communities at the nearest future.

“Don’t you know that persistent attack can cause war between the two sisters communities of  Ajassor and Agborkim. There is no way you can machete people like this, and we mobilise for revenge that it won’t result to a communal war.”

Continuing, the cocoa farmer said: “I am calling on the state Governor, Bassey Otu, to ask his state Security Adviser, Obono, to explain to him why he halted the Nigerian  Army from patrolling the Abonita cocoa estate known for criminal activities.

“We have instances where a criminal commits a crime and we reported incident at the Divisional Police headquarters at Effraya, Etung Local Government Area of the state, the matter will quickly be transferred to Zone 6 Police Command, Calabar, or Abuja, and before you know it, victims suddenly turn to suspects.

Speaking on the incident, one of the victims of the alleged attack, Mr. Kelly Abang, who spoke on behalf of others at Ikom General Hospital said: “I went to do work on Mark Prince cocoa farm yesterday, and one  man called Chilo met us in the bush and asked us about the owner of the farm and we  told him we were labourers  working for Mark Prince.

“He demanded that I should call our master, Mr. Mark Prince, because he wants to speak with him. And I responded to his demand and I put a call across to Mark Prince, and they spoke with each other. And thereafter, Mr. Chilo (Asu Njor) asked us to continue with our work and he left in company of some boys.

“Only for him to return back about 30 minutes later in company of armed young men who tortured us squarely, and inflicted  injuries on us with machetes.

In his reaction, the accused, Mr. Asu Njor (Chilo), denied any involvement in the attack.

Njor said that contrary to the allegations leveled against him over the alleged attack of the workers, he was in Calabar and not at Abonita Farm on the day of the alleged attack claimed by the workers.

Also speaking on the allegations leveled against him, Governor Otu’s Special Adviser on Security Matters, Obono, said he has at no time compromised the security situation at the cocoa farm estate. Obono said he has called in the police in the state to investigate the matter.