Ebonyi govt disowns social media video on border crisis with Cross River

EBONYI Government on Monday, disowned the video footages displayed on social media about the border crisis between Igbeagu community of the state and Ukelle community of Cross River.

Chief Emmanuel Onwe, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the videos were posted by some ‘reckless and thoughtless individuals’.

Onwe said that the horrendous images posted on the social media platforms did not originate from the border clashes as insinuated by the individuals who posted them.

“First, the video in question trended for several weeks in 2017 and purportedly emanated from Boko Haram atrocities in the Lake Chad Basin region.

“The observable injuries are not characteristics of injuries inflicted by gunshots or machete cuts which are weapons reportedly deployed by those engaged in the confrontation in the Ebonyi/ Cross River crisis.

“Anyone who cares to pay attention to the language in the video would have instantly appreciated that the clearly audible language spoken by the beleaguered victims is French and not any known Nigerian language or dialect.

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“To post a video of such charged and aggravating content and link it to the clashes at the border of both states is an act of stupidity and mind-boggling ignorance,” he said.

He noted that such insensitive and reckless posts are capable of sparking devastating events of unpredictable nature and those who initiated and propagated it would have blood on their hands.

“The Ebonyi Government will stop at nothing to make them answerable for their inflammatory actions, even as the communal clash has been brought under reasonable control,” he said.

The commissioner said that in the interim, a combined team of the police and military operatives have taken control of the area at the directive of the governor.

“The military operatives have established a firm occupation of the disputed territory,” he said.