Hoodlums alleged to be loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have reportedly brutalised a middle-aged woman identified as Mrs Owor Owui, during her visit to Nsofang Community in Etung LGA of Cross River State.
Earlier, some politicians were said to have fled the community over alleged political persecution following the violence caused by the results of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections of 18 March 2023.
According to multiple reports from residents of Nsofang Community to Ikom town in Ikom LGA, many people left the community due to incessant brutality by “PDP thugs” to those holding opposite views.
It was said that the hoodlums unleashed violence on some voters who casted their votes for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Prince Bassey Otu, instead of Prof Sandy Onor of the PDP.
However, it was learnt that Owui departed Ikom where she had hid for safety to visit Nsofang but was manhandled by suspected thugs.
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Similarly, two other members of the community, Ndifon Erim and Roland Ekuri, were attacked by the hoodlums.
Confirming this, a chieftain of the community, Mr Mbang, told journalists that they could no longer visit the community freely for fear of being brutalised by the thugs.
“We have been driven away from our ancestral homes. We are 40 presently in Ikom and elsewhere. We secretly enter Nsofang to pick some items. We’re not finding this funny and comfortable at all. Our lives are in danger. We call on the security agencies to help us,” he said.
Reacting to the allegations against the PDP, a former Commissioner for Information in the state, Asu Okang, said they are not facts.
He said, “Such are barefaced lies, treachery and blackmail that are to be expected at this time of alignments and realignments as elections are now over.
“These allegations are peddled by people who are looking for relevance, and to score cheap political points.
“Cross River is our collective business. So why should we unleash violence and ostracise people from their ancestral homes?”
Former presidential aide, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla called on the state government not to continue to turn a blind eye to incessant political thuggery against hapless citizens for holding different views.
“The Government of Cross River State and law enforcement agencies must wake up and be alive to their responsibility of safeguarding the fundamental and constitutional rights of the hapless citizens. The political intolerance in Nsofang has reached its crescendo,” he said.