Akwa Ibom State is facing a threat of an imminent food crisis following communal clashes that have engulfed several communities in the state.
Three communities in three local government areas considered as the food baskets of the state are embroiled in clashes over farmland that have left many displaced, lives lost and property destroyed.
The clashes first erupted in Ammamong in Okobo local government area, a predominantly farming community, followed by same skirmishes in Uda community in Mbo local government area and similar eruption in communities in Nkari, Ini local government area of the state.
Ini local government is a major food basket of the state with rice, cassava and cocoa as leading agricultural products.
The outbreak of the clashes during the beginning of the farming season has disrupted cultivation of land in the affected areas, according farming groups who described it as worrisome.
According to government officials, the clashes are likely to cause food insecurity in the state given that most of the food requirements are supplemented by local farmers engaging in subsistence farming.
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Akwa Ibom has no large-scale farming schemes and depends on food items brought in from other states, with garri coming from Edo and Delta States while yam and onions come from the northern part of the country, according to checks.
“The foodstuff produced in the state cannot ensure food security, and with the clashes, it means the state will be susceptible to food shortages,” one official said.
The Governor Udom Emmanuel administration “has given priority to agriculture, with a target of producing at least 80 percent of food consumed in the state by 2023”, according to the technical committee on food sufficiency headed by Edet Udoh, a professor of Agriculture at the University of Uyo.
However, with the planned takeover of the disputed farmland from the warring communities, it is feared that the food situation in the state would worsen.
Speaking when he visited Enwang community and Ukonteghe Uda in Mbo Local Government Area, Emmanuel Ekuwem, Secretary to the State Government, vowed that the government would take over the disputed farmlands to guard against repeated clashes.
“The land is going to be taken over by the government for a large plantation or industry or factory that belongs to Akwa Ibom State government. The constitution provides that every land is vested in the state government, so the state government is taking over the land in order to ensure peace,” the SSG stated.
He urged the warring parties to sheathe their swords and embrace peace for the overall development of Mbo in particular and the state in general.
He also reminded them that no meaningful development can take place in a crisis-ridden area.
However, professionals in the area have kicked against the move by the state government to take over the land, saying instead that there should be a judicial panel of inquiry to find out the immediate and remote causes of the clashes.
Besides, the professionals noted that the inquiry would also help to put to rest once and for all the festering communal crisis which has claimed many lives over the years and affected economic activities including farming in the area.
The group of professionals, in a statement made available to journalists in Uyo, decried the wanton destruction of lives and property that had trailed the clashes.
“We, therefore, call on Governor Udom Emmanuel, being the chief security officer, to inaugurate a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to probe the four-day communal clashes in the area,” the statement said.
Though similar peace moves have been made to Okobo and Ini local government areas with Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo visiting some of the communities, many believe that it would take more than peace overtures to get the farmers back to their farms.
Meanwhile, the price of garri, the staple food item widely patronised in the state, has continued to rise with traders attributing it to the commencement of the farming season.
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