Sufuyan Ojeifo
3 July 2009
Abuja — Cross River caucus in the National Assembly yesterday began a two-week hunger strike to underscore the seriousness of the pains by the people of the state occasioned by the removal of its 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State.
At the end of the hunger strike, the lawmakers expect that the Federal Government would reverse the decision in order to mitigate the great injustice meted out to the State and its people.
Addressing a press conference in the National Assembly, Chairman of the caucus, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw (Cross River South), said the action by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) of unilaterally ceding the entire maritime territory of Cross River to Akwa Ibom was despicable.
He stated further that it was unwholesome and a calculated attempt to defraud and deprive the people of Cross River State of their natural endowment with long standing genealogical antecedents. Ewa-Henshaw, in company of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) (Cross River Central), and eight members of the House of Representatives from the state, specifically said: "One of the immediate consequences of this ill-advised action is the removal of 76 oil wells from Cross River State to Akwa Ibom State.
This action is despicable, unwholesome and a calculated attempt to defraud and deprive the good people of Cross River State of their natural endowment with a long standing genealogical antecedents.
"Our principled position on this prime issue of national importance is anchored on our collective sense of patriotism derived from our historic and traditional role as representatives of our peace - loving people and belief that enduring peaceful co-existence between the sister States (Cross River and Akwa Ibom) must , as a necessity, be rooted in justice, equity and fairness without which the two States will live under the suffocating cloud of mutual suspicion, distrust, avoidable hatred and malice in perpetuity.
"We are also of the conviction that a grave injustice has been visited on our dear people by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and to some extent the National Boundary Commission.
"Only the timely intervention by the Federal Government will restore the shaken confidence of our people in the Nigerian Federation and help dispel the fast growing sentiment that the virtues of calmness, responsible behaviour and peaceful coexistence are not respected but despised by certain segments of our nation."
The caucus said that "after deep reflection, we have come to the conclusion that it will be insensitive for us to pretend that all is well when our people feel the full weight of deprivation occasioned by the wicked and illegal denial of resources which should rightly accruable to them.
"Since some greedy brigands would rather see our people starve to death and our State brought to its knees, we as their representatives have decided to stand in unity with them-to sink or swim with them. "We will therefore, beginning immediately, embark on a two week hunger strike to emphasize the seriousness of this situation and the collective pain we feel. "But we must warn that the people of Cross River have had enough. They have been pushed far enough. They now have their back to a concrete wall and can go no further. "It is unacceptable that they should be cheated, abused, degraded and deprived simply because they are honest, law abiding, peace loving, accommodating and responsible people."
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