C’river Community Alleges Neglect, Land Grabbing By Govt Agencies, Threatens Action

RESIDENTS of Ikot Effanga Mkpa, Cross River State, have accused federal and state governments’ agencies of neglect and land grabbing.

The Ikot Effanga Mkpa people, who are host community to Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC), Cross River Basin Development Authority, Federal Character Commission ( FCC), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons ( NAPTIP), Cross River State Dumpsite and others, are unhappy with the way they are being treated by government agencies, and have threatened to take action to correct the abnormality.

Leader of Ikot Effanga Mkpa Town Council, Chief Effanga Ineng Effanga, who led a fivemember team, yesterday, alleged that the Ministry of Niger Delta and NDDC have marginalised the community in the just concluded employment exercise by the agency, even when they were promised 10 slots, but not even one was allotted to them.

According to him, some aggrieved residents have threatened to stop the commissioning of the ministry’s secretariat. They also accused the Basin Development Authority of similar act of “negligence and insensitivity,” when it carried out employment exercise, but failed to employ indigenes from the host community, even when the town council approached them.