Investigations by www.calitown.com reveal that there is an unhealthy influx of French speaking individuals into Calabar, Cross River State. These individuals found mostly in Bogobiri, an area predominantly inhabited by the Hausa speaking people of Northern Nigeria and considered the hub of black marketeering in the state are steadily growing in numbers and they seems to be cause for worry.
Further investigations show that the bulk of the individuals are men, aged between 18 to 35 years, transported in numbers from the Northern part of the country to Bogobiri to take up menial jobs like truck pushing, mobile shoe repairs and in other cases, work as security guards in private residences. While it has been confirmed that most of these men are from the neighbouring Mali, Niger and Chad, it is becoming disturbing that most of them with questionable backgrounds, are yet to be profiled by security agencies.
One resident of Calabar told www.calitown.com that, “considering the security situation in this country, we must be proactive and get these people out of this city because we cannot afford to keep them here when some of them may actually be Boko Haram fighters fleeing war torn areas of the North to come and cool off here”. He went on to say that, “while it is not out of place for anybody from the North of the country to speak French, it is however abnormal for such a large number of young men to all be speaking French and little or no English and still claim forcefully that they are Nigerians”.
Early today, scores of them were spotted at the area in Bogobiri, opposite the mosque, known for harbouring a large number of artisans, grabbing a hot cup of tea while others sat in groups discussing.
A security source who pleaded anonymity said that, “it is good that www.calitown.com is drawing our attention to this development, I must commend that and further say that it is the reason why we always say that the media should complement our efforts. Now that this issue has been pointed out, we will set ourselves the task of getting at this people so that no terror cells are set up in Cross River State”.
