Mbo, Oh my Mbo! Who sent this hurricane to you?
By Moses Tom
Yours Sincerely first posed what appears as the heading of this write-up on his timeline on Wednesday night, 3rd June, 2020. It was an impulsive response to a distress call I received from my mother that night. Some of my friends who commented on the post could not help but wondered what really happened.
I must confess l was grasping for what was going on after being told that a mighty windstorm was wrecking havoc in the riverine local government area, particuarly in my country home, Enwang, its headquarters. So I could not wait for the day to break to rush to the village only to be counted among the “witnesses to tears”.
‘The Day of the Mighty Wind’
“A mighty wind shall blow and a great rain shall fall, much harm of destruction shall be done and behold all shall never be the same again.”
When Francisca Usen wrote the book, The Day of a Mighty Wind, she might not have realised that she was predicting what would befall the people of Mbo. June 3rd, 2020, was truly the day a mighty windstorm wrecked havoc in Mbo.
The picture you see here was all that could be salvaged from the house of a 79-year-old woman in Enwang, the headquarters of Mbo Local Government Area, Madam Ikwo Okon Tom, after the windstorm.
Madam Tom, the mother of Yours Sincerely, was among the several people and residents of Enwang who were counting their losses after the windstorm destroyed properties, including houses, electric poles and cables as well as economic trees, that could run into millions of naira in the community.
The tempest, which started about 10 pm that Wednesday night, saw many scampered for safety in the chaos while others had no alternative than to take refuge in the midst of the storm.
When this reporter visited the area, the victims were wearing long faces while sympathizers could only fold their hands in clusters, discussing the tragedy that has befallen their community.
Some who spoke with this reporter expressed shock at the situation and appealed to government and public spirited individuals to come to their aid.
A youth leader in the area, Comrade Effiong Etim Effiong, had said several people were rendered homeless in the wake of the storm, regretting that the tempest came during the pandemic when members of the community are struggling to make ends meet.
Similar tragedy had occurred in the community about two decades ago, killing a couple in their sleep.
Although no life was lost in the midnight tempest, it probably foreshadowed and forewarned what would befall the riverine area: bloodletting and mayhem.
Bloody Communal clashes
The year 2020 is arguably one of the driest years in the riverine local government of Mbo, but it’s the year mighty wind of crisis has been blowing and great rain of trouble has been falling in the area, following the wanton destruction of life and property as a result of communal clashes between Uko Akpan in Enwang Community and Uko Nteghe in Uda Community.
The year turned with a renewed clash between the two communities over the protracted boundary dispute. The recent crisis began in January when armed men from Uko Ntighe attacked Enwang people who went to cultivate a farmland at the boundary between the two communities, killing them in the process while those those who were abducted never returned. The farmland had been left uncultivated for more than 10 years partly because of the perennial communal clashes but that January Enwang people were reportedly told they could go ahead and cultivate the farm only to be attacked by their angry neighbours.
The dastardly act had triggered further attacks and counter-attacks by the warring neighbours, resulting in wanton destruction, arson, maiming, and killing. It is estimated that no fewer than 100 houses have been razed and scores of people either wounded or murdered in the wake of the crisis. Although security personnel comprising the military and the police, were deployed to arrest the situation, the crisis had degenerated into cold war and secret maiming of residents of the rival communities that are fast becoming ghost lands.
As at the time of filing in this report, the communities have been deserted after s devastating attack on Enwang by militants loyal to Uko Ntighe that saw at least persons killed while two military personnel and one Officers were injured during a gun battle with the militants.
Over 40 houses were also burned including the country homes of the former Inspector General of Police, late Chief Etim Okon Inyang and former member of the National Assembly , late Martin Okon Effiong.
The mayhem came despite stern warning by the state government, cautioning the warring communities against further
senseless, unwarranted and criminal attacks.
In a meeting in Uyo with stakeholders in the area, the state deputy governor, Obong Moses Ekpo, who is incharge of boundary issues in Akwa Ibom, had tasked traditional rulers councils on the need to redouble their efforts in resolving the crisis, urging them to further engage all the parties involved and stakeholders in peaceful discussions.
“I convened this meeting as a warning because people lose anytime they engage in crisis. The palliatives the state government gave to the warring communities could have been used for more profitable things, and can never be enough to replace the assets destroyed.
“Destroying lives and property because of land, which originally belongs to God and only held in trust by the government is wrong. We will rather take over such lands and manage them, than allow them to cause killings and destruction,” the deputy governor said.
Stakeholders in the area are unanimous that the crisis is getting out of control
According to the Chairman, Mbo Local Government Council, Rt Hon Asuquo Eyo, who incidentally hails from Uko Akpan Enwang, the conflict had become perennial, regretting the level of destruction in the two communities during the recent crisis, the situation he described as disheartening.
Interestingly, as the Paramount Ruler of Mbo, Ogwong Okon Abang, rightly put it, warring communities are brothers and kinsmen, a dimension that casts aspersions on the rationale and intrigues behind the crisis.
Stop Press:
Watch out as we take a closer at the intrigues that fuel the Mbo crisis.
