Fresh violence has erupted between the Ochon community in Obubra Local Government Area and their Ofutop neighbours in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, leading to the beheading of two people over the weekend.
Residents said the renewed fighting shattered a fragile peace deal brokered two weeks ago following earlier clashes that claimed several lives and left many houses destroyed.
A youth leader in the area, Donald Enang, told Vanguard that the recent killings have forced the conflict away from the communities into surrounding farmlands and forests.
“Fighting has moved from the towns and the Ikom-Calabar highway to the farms.
Many cocoa plantations have been destroyed, while rice, cassava, and yam farms have been set ablaze,” Enang said.
He added that residents now live in fear and can no longer access their farms.
“The Army is stationed along the highway, but the youths are committing more destruction in the farms.
Anyone who tries to go to their farm risks being shot,” he lamented.
The Ochon and Ofutop communities, alongside Alesi, have been locked in recurring clashes over land boundaries for several years, resulting in numerous deaths and disruption of economic activities along the Ikom-Calabar highway.
Although community leaders had recently brokered a peace agreement, the latest incident suggests that tensions remain unresolved.