By There is an uneasy calm in Cross River State following an allegation that some sponsored youths have been induced to carry out protest rallies against Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.
A group, Renaissance Group Caucus, raised the alarm in a statement made available to P.M Express.
The National Coordinator of the group, Prince Paul Nsan said some youths have been induced to carry out the protest based on the claim that Ita-Giwa is not from Bakassi area.
However, Nsan said it is curious this sort of claim is being made 30 years after Ita-Giwa took up the battle and brought the plight of the people of Bakassi to the front burner of national discourse.
His words: “Something curious is going on in Cross River State, some obviously sponsored youths have been induced to carry out protest rallies against the face and moving spirit behind the agitation for the resettlement of the displaced people of Bakassi.
“Apparently the young protesters phantom angst is that Senator Florence Ita-Giwa is really not from Bakassi and should stop misrepresenting them. It is the height of insult to a woman who, on record, was born in Atabong, Bakassi.
Prince Nsan said all of this is coincidentally taking place just after the Senator decamped from the ruling party in the state, PDP and declared for the All Progressives Congress, APC, the government at the centre.
“Anyone who has followed Ita-Giwa’s political career knows she likes to play with the government at the centre. Thus, any discerning person can see that something sinister is afoot,” Nsan stated.
According to him, the problem started with a fire outbreak at a Bakassi displaced persons location.
Ita-Giwa was said to have gotten the National Refugee Commission to promptly respond to the disaster.
The Refugee Commission mobilized considerable relief materials in the form of food and building materials which was handed over to the state government at a ceremony in Calabar.
However, it was gathered that the relief materials never got to the affected victims of the fire disaster but instead allegedly found its way into the open building materials market in Calabar.
This obviously miffed Ita-Giwa who then reported the matter to the authorities in Abuja, who dispatched some security personnel to look into the issue.
Their findings were said to have confirmed that there was a diversion of relief materials.
Prince Nsan claimed that the discovery had fueled the hate campaign against Ita-Giwa and it may have been masterminded by the state government that feels embarrassed instead of taking responsibility for the situation.
“The government has allegedly decided to demonise Senator Ita-Giwa for having the temerity to expose the farce, hence the sponsored protests against her,” he alleged.
“But this is not the first time, Ita-Giwa is rising up against suspected crooks who are feeding fat on the misfortune of Bakassi indigenes.
“In May 2010, there were rumours that funds were missing from the account of the Bakassi Resettlement Committee, chaired by Ita-Giwa. She promptly asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate the matter.
Nsan, however expressed fears that the current protests might incite some misguided youth to take matters a step ahead by physically attacking the senator.
“God forbid that she should be assassinated as was the case with a British female member of parliament a few years ago,” he stated.
The Renaissance Group Caucus leader then called on the Cross River State government “to concentrate on governance and find ways to pay the backlog of salaries they owe workers rather that squandering scarce resources on mobilizing youths against Eka Iban Ke Efik Eburutu, the Mother of the Efik Kingdom. Let it be known that nothing must happen to Senator Ita-Giwa.”
