A dark cloud now looms over illegal occupants and self-styled overlords of government-owned cocoa estates in Cross River state, as the administration of Governor Bassey Otu has vowed to bring down the full weight of the law on anyone attempting to hijack or manipulate state assets for personal gain NEGROIDHAVEN has garnered.
At the center of this reckoning is Oscar Ofuka, a former aide of the immediate past administration, who has been branded an “impostor” and tormentor-in-chief of cocoa farmers in the government-owned cocoa estates in Etung Local Government Area. His days of brazen intimidation and illegal interference in the cocoa estates may finally be numbered.
Speaking with fiery resolve during a meeting with a delegation of aggrieved farmers led by Hon. Atu Ebuta, Chairman of the Bendeghe Ekiem unit of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan Enoh, minced no words: “Let it be known that Cross River State Government will not tolerate this lawlessness any longer. The matter is before a competent court, but we will pursue it to a logical conclusion. Oscar Ofuka is not a government-recognized actor in any of our cocoa estates.”
The SSG’s message was clear: legitimate farmers who have been allocated plots by government should return to their farms and continue their business without fear, as the government is fully behind them and ready to crush all forces of sabotage operating outside the law.
The SSG was not alone in his outrage. The farmers also stormed the residence of Hon. Kingsley Isong, the member representing Etung State Constituency in the Cross River House of Assembly, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Asset Management and Recovery, Barr. Gilbert Agbor, to lodge their complaints over the persistent harassment and obstruction by Ofuka.
Hon. Isong, visibly disturbed by the allegations, described Ofuka’s actions as “a disgrace to Etung,” expressing disbelief that a son of the soil could turn against his people and the government in such treacherous fashion.
“We will revisit this matter on the floor of the House,” Hon. Isong pledged. “What is happening is not just illegal — it is wicked. The Assembly will not watch silently while one man sabotages an entire sub sector.”
Barr. Agbor, in his remarks, echoed the government’s resolve and called on farmers to remain law-abiding, assuring them that the machinery of government is fully activated to reclaim and sanitize the cocoa estates. “No illegal force can override the law. Government is watching, and government is acting,” he said.
The farmers, angered but emboldened, questioned how an individual like Ofuka could have the audacity to cripple a government asset, suggesting he may have attempted to lock the current administration out of vital revenue-generating estates through backdoor deals and unchecked arrogance.
At press time, multiple calls and messages to Oscar Ofuka’s known contacts to clarify or refute the serious allegations leveled against him were left unanswered.
