Several illegal miners, suspected to be foreigners, were late Sunday evening, reported to be roaming vast forests in Yakurr, Abi and Biase local government areas, apparently on the run, after the Cross River State Government, CRSG, declared their operations illegal and began arresting hordes of them.
Locals in the area who called www.calitown.com, reported sighting several of them hurriedly accessing deep farm trails and seemed lost. One recorded voice note forwarded to us informed that, “…as I speak with you, I sighted some of them late this evening around Ekan farm road (Ugep). I do not know where they are going, but it appears they are trying to avoid using the main road where the army checkpoint in Ugep is. Some of them spent the night in our farms and it is scaring most of our people, considering that this is the farm clearing season and we are praying that they will not confront us as some of them are armed.”
In Agoi Ibami and Agoi Ekpo and Nko communities, Yakurr LGA, most of them who clearly speak no English language, have accessed deep to be accessed forests, even out numbering youths in some of the communities.
Yibala Inyang, Chairman of Yakurr LGA, contacted late Sunday night, before press time, maintained exclusively to www.calitown.com that, there is a massive arrest and evacuation operation currently taking place. “Most of them were brought in a menial labourers but we are confident that in the next couple of days, we will empty our forests and the attendant menace.”
Inyang was however unhappy that several locals in places like Nko, Yakurr LGA, were collecting money from this fleeing persons and harbouring them, even protecting them, preventing arrests and evacuation. He added that he has had to hold sensitisation meetings with youths and traditional rulers in the area on why these people should not be harboured to forestall any clashes that may occur over time.
Recall that www.calitown.com exclusively reported the arrest of some of these individuals in an operation led by the CRS State Security Adviser, SSA, O. U. Obono, a retired Army general. Obono declined press comments on the operation when we reached him during Saturday’s operation.
