It was a sombre Thursday afternoon in Alesi, a community in Ikom Local Government Area (LGA) of Cross River State, in South South Nigeria. Inside the village head’s palace, men and women gathered in silence, their faces drawn with grief. Some stared blankly ahead; others fought back tears.
“We have lost another son. Our hearts are heavy, our eyes are bleeding. Our people are continuously being killed as a result of boundary disputes, and we are increasingly being forced to take up arms,” Nzan Osim, a community leader, addressed the mourners.
A day earlier, Fidelis Akan, a cocoa farmer from Alesi, was beheaded on his farm, close to the boundary with Ochon, a neighbouring community in Obubra LGA. His elder brother, Lawrence Akan, said Fidelis had gone to the farm with his daughter that morning to harvest cocoa when they heard gunshots.
“As they came out to see what was happening, a group of boys, allegedly from Ochon, caught them. When they found out that he was from Alesi, they beheaded him,” he narrated. Fidelis’ daughter escaped and raised the alarm. His body was later recovered and buried the same day, leaving behind a wife and six children.
In the aftermath, angry residents allegedly set fire to a truck loaded with cocoa, believing it belonged to an Ochon farmer.
A long battle over land
Since 2022, Alesi and Ochon have become flashpoints for deadly clashes, rooted in a long-running boundary dispute and the struggle for farmland to cultivate cocoa, one of Cross River’s most valuable crops.
Yet, for decades, both communities coexisted peacefully, trading and even intermarrying across the boundary without violence. Many locals believe the recent tensions are being driven by increased competition for farmland and the growing economic value of cocoa.
The disputed land falls within the Ukpon River Forest Reserve, a protected area established by the state government in 1930 to preserve forest resources and biodiversity. Both communities continue to claim ownership of the area, with residents of Alesi accusing their Ochon counterparts of trespassing and attempting to seize land around Adibongha, the nearest clan to the boundary.
The tension has often turned violent. In July, several houses were burnt and many families were displaced after an attack on Adibongha, according to Kelvin Eyam, a resident.
“We have documents to prove our claim, but the Obubra people don’t want us at the boundary. They want to seize the entire land. The boundary is clearly marked at the centre of the river. There’s even a document that shows this, but attempts have been made to wipe it out,” said Nzan, a community leader from Alesi.
The traditional ruler of Obubra, Robert Mbinna, disagrees and insists it is Alesi that has been trespassing and illegally occupying their land. “There is a court order to that effect,” he said, adding that his own people have also lost lives in the crisis.
While both sides referred to documents supporting their claims, they did not present any to HumAngle for verification.
Beyond the legal arguments, residents say the human toll continues to rise. “A lot of people have been maimed, kidnapped and not seen till today. We dread to see one another and no longer enter the same vehicle with those from Obubra,” Nsan added.
Aside from the lives lost, the protracted crisis between these communities is also impacting the livelihoods of residents. Farmers say vast farmlands have been abandoned for fear of attacks, while others have watched their cocoa trees destroyed in the clashes.
Daniel Eguma, a cocoa farmer from Ukanga in Ikom, is one of them. Just a day before Akan’s brutal murder, he escaped from Okokori, a community near the boundary where he would always pass the night after working on his farmland.
“I slept at a primary school field and made arrangements with a driver who took me away at 3 a.m. after I heard of an impending attack. I left behind my six hectares of cocoa farmland and a motorcycle,” he told HumAngle.
Daniel was already planning to harvest his cocoa in a week, but he cannot go back to his farm again. Usually, when criminals notice that farmers have abandoned their farms, they go in and steal. He said he could not even begin to estimate the value of what he has lost — but after years of labour and investment, it is substantial.
‘The Prevent Council’
As violence persisted despite repeated police deployments, civil society actors began searching for ways to prevent further bloodshed.
Nine months after at least eight people were killed and about 2000 displaced following a clash between the communities in March 2022, the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), a non-profit organisation, launched the Prevent Council initiative. The project aimed to strengthen community peacebuilding structures by engaging traditional rulers as positive influencers and conflict mediators in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Delta states.
PIND says it currently has 10,113 peace actors in its network, who have intervened in over 2000 conflicts since 2013.
In Cross River, at least 25 traditional rulers and community leaders in five LGAs, including Ikom and Obubra, were trained and made peace ambassadors. PIND’s Executive Director, Tunji Idowu, said that the initiative recognised the critical role that traditional rulers play in maintaining peace and security within their communities.
“The central goal of the Prevent Council is to promote and sustain social cohesion and peaceful coexistence in society with no one left behind. It emphasises that sustainable peace must involve multilateral engagements with traditional institutions as critical positive influencers and conflict mediators in their respective states and communities,” Tunji explained.
Participants received training on early warning and response, conflict mapping, mediation, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Between 2023 and 2024, PIND peace ambassadors intervened when clashes erupted between Alesi and Ochon. Using their training manuals, they engaged both sides to de-escalate tensions.
“We went into the communities where we spoke with elders and youths about the need to embrace peace,” said Agbor Clement, a participant from Ikom LGA.
However, since the return of the violence this year, both Agbor and Mbinna, a participant from Obubra LGA, admit that their effort have not tackled the root causes. Agbor noted that Ikom also shares boundaries with Boki and Etung local government areas; however, there have been no reported boundary disputes, as the borders are properly demarcated.
Local government officials agree. According to Daniel Eyam, a Special Adviser on Political and Executive Matters to the Ikom LGA chairperson, although PIND’s activities are well-intentioned, the system itself prevents peace from taking root.
“In communities, when there is a land dispute, you go to the elders because they are the custodians of facts that pertain to the disputed area, and when they speak the truth, matters are resolved. Sadly, many of them have refused to do that,” he said.
Daniel stressed that beyond offering training, PIND should push relevant agencies to speak the truth and take action.
Another challenge facing PIND’s Prevent Council is a lack of resources to enable peace ambassadors to respond immediately during conflict situations.
“We were supposed to meet with stakeholders after the latest crisis, but we are handicapped because our work usually ends after training,” said Victor Okim, a PIND ambassador in Obubra. “We cannot go into the communities to drill down on what we have learned because we don’t have the resources. There is no continuous monitoring and evaluation of Prevent Council activities.”
“If we have the support that we need, we can do more because we are part of them, and they trust us so much to listen when we speak,” he added.
Nkongha Daniel, the PIND Coordinator for Ikom, said women are often the biggest losers in crises because they lose their husbands and children. She suggested the foundation invest more in training women on how to respond in times of crisis.
PIND did not respond to interview requests, so it remains unclear whether the organisation is aware of the renewed violence or has taken steps to address these challenges. However, in its Niger Delta Weekly Conflict Update for March 2022, it recommended stronger collaboration between stakeholders and the state government to tackle the root causes of land conflicts and redress historical grievances.
Government efforts fall short
On July 30, the Cross River State Government ordered the immediate suspension of all farming activities on the disputed land, saying it was part of its efforts to bring peace to the area until proper boundary demarcation was carried out.
Community leaders and stakeholders of the two warring communities met in Calabar, the state capital, with the Deputy Governor, Peter Odey, and other government officials, including Anthony Owan-Enoh, who is overseeing an eight-person Peace Committee that was inaugurated to identify the root causes of the conflict and recommend a sustainable resolution framework.
During the meeting, community leaders were instructed to submit all relevant documents relating to the crisis on or before Aug. 1. HumAngle confirmed that the papers were submitted, and a follow-up review meeting was slated for Aug. 13 to assess compliance, monitor the committee’s progress, and tackle emerging issues.
However, several community leaders noted that no meaningful progress has been made.
“They gave us two weeks to stay off our lands, saying they were coming to carry out boundary demarcation. But after the visit, nothing happened. We have not been told whether we can return to our farms,” said Kelvin Eyam, a community leader from Alesi, lamenting that the government appears indifferent as violence continues.
Nzan claimed that on Sept. 4, the Secretary to the State Government asked both parties to provide surveyors for an urgent meeting with the state’s Surveyor General. However, when he called to find out the outcome of the meeting the next day, he was informed that it didn’t hold because the surveyor from Obubra could not come.
“This is what has been happening, and the government continues to keep calm, give us excuses and watch lives get lost,” he lamented.
Neji Abang, a member of the Peace Resolution Committee for the Ikom-Obubra communal conflict, said that the committee visited both communities shortly after its inauguration to conduct fact-finding. According to him, the state’s Surveyor-General was invited and subsequently deployed a technical team to the disputed boundary.
“We had a meeting where they presented their findings, and the chairman of the committee had invited 10 representatives from each of the communities to the meeting,” he said.
But the presentation was rejected by the Alesi delegation, who argued that the demarcation was different from the original boundary record in their possession. They claimed the survey relied on a previous court judgment that had awarded the disputed area to Ochon and therefore demanded a fresh exercise.
Neji also confirmed Nzan’s earlier account that Obubra failed to bring its own surveyor, despite a directive from the committee chairperson instructing both communities to provide independent surveyors to work alongside the state’s team at the disputed site on Sept. 3.
When asked why the state government had not formally demarcated the boundary despite having records of all boundaries in the state, Abang said, “That is what we will eventually do if it addresses the crisis.”
What’s the way out?
As government interventions stall, community members and peace ambassadors are proposing alternative paths toward a lasting solution.
Members of the PIND Prevent Council noted that it is also important to look into training community members on livelihoods and alternative means of survival because the conflicts are often rooted in economic struggle.
“Young people can be empowered through skills acquisition programs and grants so they can look away from cocoa, which is a major reason why there is a struggle for land,” Nkongha explained. “Many of the youth are jobless and turn to hard drugs, hence they become willing tools for conflict.”
She explained that Ikom and Obubra, for instance, are big producers of garri, plantain, palm oil, yams, and groundnuts.
“We can establish industries that process these crops where young people can be employed to work and earn for themselves,” she noted.
For Agbor, another way out of the conflict will be for the government to take over the disputed area and set aside days when farmers on each side can go and harvest their crops, accompanied by security operatives.
Emmanuel Ossai, a peace and conflict expert who has researched violence in the region, said that interventions, like that of PIND, need to consider widening existing partnerships by involving more strategically placed youth, traditional, religious, and women leaders across the communities in conflict management training regularly.
“There might be several possible reasons for the violence that are not under PIND’s direct control, but expanding partnerships and training more local leaders in conflict management would be helpful,” he suggested.
Emmanuel added that regular follow-ups are necessary after training to assess whether community leaders are applying the conflict management skills they acquired to achieve greater impact.
This story was produced under the HumAngle Foundation’s Advancing Peace and Security through Journalism project, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).