Following nearly two decades of displacement, homelessness, and communal warfare, concrete hope has finally emerged for the long-suffering people of Ebijaghara in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State.
​The breakthrough came during a high-stakes security and boundary resolution stakeholder conference convened by the Cross River State Government on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, inside the Executive Chambers of the State Secretariat Complex in Calabar.
The assembly gathered key state administrators, military officials, traditional rulers, and community representatives from both Ebijaghara and neighboring Ebom in a decisive step toward permanent peace and resettlement.
​Driven by the administration of Governor Bassey Otu, the state’s strategic intervention aims to bring a definitive end to the fratricidal conflict that destroyed homes, shattered livelihoods, and forced thousands into exile across surrounding towns since 2006.
​Chairs of the boundary negotiations underscored the administration’s commitment to action over rhetoric. Speaking on behalf of the state government, Dr. Peter Odey, the Deputy Governor of Cross River State and Chairman of the State Boundary Committee, acknowledged that while government cannot restore lost lives, it is fully resolved to prevent future casualties.
He explained that Governor Otu’s administration has already begun executing key infrastructure recommendations, notably including the construction of the vital Bahumono road network to guarantee a safe, dignified, and sustainable return for the displaced population to live peacefully alongside their Ebom neighbors.
​Echoing the state’s security agenda, Maj. Gen. Obono Ubi (retd.), Senior Special Adviser on Security to the Governor, highlighted that the government escalated this intervention because the prolonged humanitarian trauma endured by exiled families over two decades could no longer be left unaddressed.
​Local leaders and traditional custodians expressed unified support for the state’s roadmap. Hon. Chief Egbala Bassey, Chairman of Abi Local Government Area, commended the state administration’s proactive leadership and pledged total grassroots cooperation to enforce lasting harmony.
Concurrently, Rt. Hon. Davies Ettah, representing the Abi State Constituency in the Cross River State House of Assembly, urged delegates from both communities to embrace shared compromises for genuine reconciliation.
Offering the backing of the traditional institution, HRM (Ovai) Elder Solomon Osim Edward, Chairman of the Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council, reassured stakeholders that royal fathers across the region would actively supervise community-level reintegration and peacebuilding efforts.
​The high-level proceedings were further observed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, alongside representatives of the State Commissioner of Police, the Acting Clan Head of Ebijaghara, and the Clan Head of Ebom.
​For the displaced families of Ebijaghara, who had recently organised peaceful appeals in Calabar seeking an end to their generational exile, this official governmental movement represents the most concrete milestone yet toward rebuilding their homes, schools, and cultural heritage on ancestral soil after 20 years away.
