Cocoa farmer raises alarm over missing worker in Cross River
Ani Bassey
Mbu Liku, a cocoa farmer operating within Agbokim Waterfalls community and Abonita government owned cocoa state in Etung has raised the alarm over what he alleged as missing worker simply identified as Mike.
Mike, a 24 yrs old farm worker is alleged to have gone missing after a group of men purported to be taskforce invaded the farm.
The taskforce is said to have stormed the cocoa plantation, bundled three of his workers, who subsequently thrown into Ikom Area command of the Nigeria Police.
Liku alleged that his business rival Mr. Asu Njor, has a fair knowledge of where about of his missing worker, calling on Mr. Njor to produce his worker.
“On Sunday July 28, 2024, I left the village for Calabar, the Cross River State capital, only to called that, Chilo ( Asu Njor) sent some thugs on the pretense that they were members of a taskforce to arrest anyone they find in my farm.
“As the taskforce got to the farm they succeeded in bundling three of my workers ,and taken to the police and left them in police custody.
“What I don’t understand is reason for the third worker who is by name Mike not among the three who are still in police custody.
“The question now is who are these members of taskforce at Abonita cocoa the estate given the fact that government has long disbanded the task force which he set up. The question now is, who is behind
the task force”, he said.
Reacting to the allegations, Mr. Asu Njor, said “We saw two of their boys in our cocoa farm and we arrested them and handed them over to the police for stealing our cocoa.
“They are living at Okundi, but we caught them right in our farm and handed them over to police.
“Any other person he is mentioning we don’t know about that, the two we arrested were caught harvesting our cocoa and we did what any law abiding citizen would have done by handing them to the police”, he said.
The Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer SP Irene Ugbo said complaint is yet to be formally lodged with the Command.
