Benue, Cross River: Good neighbours in conflicts that refuse to die
By Emma Una
OBANLIKWU — They share borders stretching for tens of kilometres across several local government areas. Their people speak similar dialects, farm the same crops, inter-marry freely and drink from the same rivers. Yet, Benue and Cross River states, two ‘sister’ states bound by geography, culture and blood, find themselves locked in a cycle of perennial conflicts that refuses to die.
From Obanlikwu in northern Cross River, where the state shares a boundary with Kwande Local Government Area of Benue, to Obudu which neighbours Vandeikya, and Yala rubs shoulders with Konshisha and Oju, the story remains the same; two people with one heritage, but constantly at war with each other.
Common history, culture
Apart from the Lugard Wall erected with pine trees by colonial administrator, Lord Lugard to partition Northern from Southern Nigeria, there are no physical landmarks marking the boundary between these two states. Rivers, hills and mountains traverse both territories seamlessly. The people criss-cross these natural landmarks to farm, trade and even offer ancestral sacrifices.
“You would be hard-pressed to find any meaningful difference between our people on both sides of this divide,” Chief Ogamode David Egede, a community leader in Yala, told NDV. “If you visit most villages in Oturkpo, you will find the same names of villages, the same animals, the same traditional rites and even the same language prevalent here in Yala.”
The same, he said, goes for the Igede people in Benue and Cross River, the Ukelle, the Obudu and Obanlikwu communities.
“The average Ogoja person knows the ties that exist between the Yala, Igede and Obudu people and their counterparts in Benue. Yet the strifes continue. It is nothing but the work of the devil.”
Revenge and retaliation
Hardly a quarter passes without reports of hostilities between northern Cross River communities and their Benue neighbours. The latest eruption came on Friday, June 26, 2026, when a young man from Benue was allegedly apprehended around 2am in the Aliforkpa community of Yache, Yala LGA, on suspicion of theft.
Witnesses told NDV that the man was beaten by a mob that night. The following morning, some persons from Benue arrived at the scene and “bailed” him, taking him home. But upon reaching home, the man was said to have died.
His death escalated tensions, sparking angry reprisals from his kinsmen in Konshisha. According to sources, they went after people perceived to be from the community where the young man was beaten. In the process, two persons from Yala Local Government Area who had gone to Konshisha market were attacked and killed, Mr Ekpo from Imaje community and one Emmanuel from Aloda community.
Bloodbath averted
The killings threatened to trigger a full-blown crisis, but timely intervention by the Yala Local Government leadership and security agencies helped prevent a complete breakdown of law and order.
Yala Council Chairman, Dr Fred Okem, his vice, Chief Godwin Odama, the Divisional Police Officer of Bekwarra and other security personnel immediately moved to calm the situation.
“A security team led by the Bekwarra DPO, Mr. Peter Oluohu, officers from the Area Command and Hon. Godwin Odama met with the protesting youths of Imaje and successfully rescued ten Tiv indigenes who were at risk during the tension,” a source said.
A fragile peace
At the moment, normalcy is gradually returning as security agencies remain alert while dialogue and peaceful engagement continue to address the situation. But the question remains: how long before the next explosion?
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