Human Right Lawyer, Ukweni  Calls for Withdrawal of soldiers from Cocoa Farms In  C’River 

From Ene Asuquo, CALABAR

 Human right lawyer Chief Mba Ukweni (SAN), has asked the Chief of Army Staff   (COAS)  Lt. Gen. Taoreed  Lagbaja, to withdraw soldiers of  245 Battalion,Afi Barracks,Ikom local Government Area of Cross River State from Government Cocoa plantations  in Etung local Government Area of the state.

Chief Ukweni who is a Calabar based lawyer made the demand while reacting to what he described as “unlawful taking over of cocoa plantations by military personnel during a telephone conversation with our reporter recently in Calabar.

Ukweni stated that the call became necessary to avoid an outbreak of civil unrest  that  can put lives and property in the community  in danger.

A letter from Mba Ukweni’s law firm Calabar, addressed to the COAS, Nigerian Army headquarters Abuja  titled “Complaint of Unwarranted Arrest, Intimidation, Harassment and Abuse of Office by  Soldiers of 245 Battalion,Afi Barracks, Ikom local government  area of Cross River State, sighted our reporter in Calabar, urged  army not to allow itself to be dragged into a civil matter which the court had given  a restraining order.

“Soldiers cannot be residing permanently in the cocoa farms acquired by our clients after money had been paid into  payment coffers of the state government only for my clients to be denied the opportunity to reap from their investment.

“We are not at war to warrant deployment of soldiers to the cocoa plantations. It’s a civil matter that the court had given an injunction restraining the state government from evicting my clients from their farms which they genuinely paid for” he said.

“Soldiers cannot abandon  their very important responsibility of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation and be meddling in a civil matter which had been taken care of by  the court, intimidating and beating my clients up in their cocoa farms. This isn’t correct sir.

Ukweni urged the army boss not  to condescend  so low in a civil matter that the state high  court in Effraya, Etung local Government area had given a restraining order which  barred the  state government from evicting farmers  of 1,415 hectares allocated to them by immediate past administration of  former Gov. Ben Ayade.

When our Correspondent called Army Public Relations Officer PRO, 13 Brigade headquarters Nigeria Army Akim Barracks Càlabar, Capt. Jemila Jimoh, for reaction, the PRO who could not admit nor deny the allegations said, “I will get back to you,let me find out what is happening first, before I can say anything,  Ikom is very far from the state capital Càlabar.

In his remarks,Chief Press Secretary CPS to Gov Otu, Mr. Nsa Gill said,I am going to find out and get back to you since I am yet to be furnished with adequate information. I will get back to you once I get the proper information.” Otu’s CPS said.