‘I did not engage any soldier to beat up fellow farmers at Abonita  cocoa estate– Mbu Liku insists

From Ene Asuquo, Calabar

A cocoa farmer operating at  the contentious  Abonita  cocoa estate, in Etung local government area of Cross River state, Mr. Mbu Liku, has denied engaging the services of soldiers to beat his fellow farmers at Abonita cocoa estate in Etung local government area of Cross River state.

The farmer debunked the allegation while reacting on the issue with our correspondent yesterday in Calabar.

Liku denied that at no time did he engage the services of any soldier to  physically assault, intimidate or harass a fellow  farmer as claimed in several foras by a group of farmers whom he alleged were doing on the instruction of one Njor Asu, to blackmail him.

Some aggrieved farmers at the cocoa estate had early this week accused Mbu Liku, of using soldiers to beat, intimidate fellow farmers, chasing them away from their farms and usurping their farm produce.

The allottees, who include Mr. Joseph Ekong, Pastor Duke  Njor, Ekuri Boniface, Nic Ntui,Clement Isong-Amba, and Pastor Etta Roland,alleged that  soldiers had on several occasions assaulted and harassed them on the orders of Mbu Liku.

“Why would I order soldiers to assault my fellow farmers?  I am a serving officer No. I am a common civil like they are.

“This is the biggest lie from the pit of hell. Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I can’t hurt even a fly, talk less of hurting my fellow farmers”.

” Those accusing  me of  having an alliance with soldiers in the estate are the thieves and people with questionable character and terribly afraid of the presence of any security personnel  around the estate because their hands aren’t clean,” Liku maintained.

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Mbu Liku urged  the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS)  Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, to arrest and try his rival cocoa farmers at the estate, Mr. Njor  Asu, for alleged involvement in arms deal within the  Abonita Agborkim Cocoa estate located along Ajassor Mfum borders closed to the Cameroon borders.

“Asu  had  been neck deep  in arms deal for about five to  six years now. In 2022, his boys were caught along Ogoja Highway by security operatives around Ogoja axis

“They were taken to Calabar after arresting Njor Asu himself and handing  them over to anti-cultism and after  two weeks of detention, they released him. In 2024, he sent his boys to go after army guns.

“Some of  those pictures he has been parading himself with are  pictures of my victims are pictures captured during that period when his boys  stole  the army’s  gun and they  were tortured until the gun was produced”.

“It’s  unfortunate that he now  displays the pictures as photographs of people harassed  in my father’s cocoa farm which he has been trying to usurp.

Calls put forward to the Ikom based entrepreneur to find out if he was the one behind sponsorship of the aggrieved cocoa farmers pointing accusing fingers at Mbu Liku, but he denied the allegation saying   that  Mbu Liku  is a  liar.