Cross River accuses social media influencers of fuelling communal clashes

The Cross River State Government has accused social media influencers of fuelling the protracted communal clashes between Iso-Bendeghe and Boje communities in Boki Local Government Area.

The unrest, rooted in a land dispute that has dragged on for more than a decade, has repeatedly flared into violence, leaving many dead, homes destroyed, and families displaced.

Despite peace accords and security deployments, the crisis has defied lasting resolution.

Speaking in Calabar on Thursday ahead of the August 18 Boki New Yam Festival, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Erasmus Ekpang, alleged that exaggerated and misleading online posts had heightened tensions in the troubled communities.

What you read on social media about the conflict is not 100 per cent true of what is happening in the communities.

Social media users are the ones escalating this conflict. They are fanning the embers of war,” Ekpang said.

The decades-old dispute, which escalated in 2010, has claimed several lives, destroyed property, and displaced many residents.

Former Governor Liyel Imoke had intervened by seizing the disputed land to stem the violence, but hostilities have persisted.

Ekpang appealed to youths in both communities to sheath their swords and embrace peace, noting that “killing one another and taking lives you cannot create is not ideal.”

He also pledged to work with community leaders and the Ochibe Boki traditional council to ensure a full return to normalcy