Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed reports,
Okoi Obono-Obla, a former presidential aide, has told the Chief of Army Staff to call his khaki boys to order.
This comes out after the soldiers who are brought out from Edor Barrack in Ikom, central Cross River State, to stop the communal commotion between Nkor people of Yakurr LGA and Onyadama community in Abi LGA over the weekend shot live bullets at villagers and set houses ablaze.
Track News Nigeria learnt the Nko youths were reported to have disarmed and killed some soldiers, including a Colonel who led the team to quell the crisis in the two communities on Saturday.
Our Correspondent, Mr Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed, says soldiers have currently started house-to-house search for arms, rounding up the people.
Part of the statement reads, “The army’s high command must immediately call these soldiers to order.
“The reprisal attack by soldiers against the Nko community leaves a sour taste in the mouth. These reprisal attacks by law enforcement agencies on innocent villagers are intolerable and wicked.
“The perpetrators of this senseless and mindless violence must immediately be arrested and brought to justice.”
He condemned the spate of senseless violence and said the Nko community has been under a state of siege resulting in the killings of innocent people and the burning of residential houses by the army units posted to the area to maintain the peace.
He put the blame on the two Chairmen of Yakurr and Abi LGAs as well as the state government for their alleged nonchalant approach to the spates of inter-communal violence that have become a recurring decimal in the state
The presidential aide noted that if the authorities have done their duties as expected, they would have averted the crisis before it split into fire.
The killings and arson in Nko have led into the influx of population into nearby communities of Mkpani and Ugep, including a concentration in the palace of the paramount ruler of Yakur LGA, Obol Ofem Ubana who doubles as Obol Lopon of Ugep.
In a telephone interview with Track News Nigeria, he said: “As I speak to you, there is a large concentration of refugees from Nko in my palace.
“We are making arrangements in a primary school to accommodate them where central feeding will be done before further help comes.”
