A top official suspected to be chairman of one of the local governments in Cross River State on Friday led some unknown weapons wielding boys and security operatives to cause havoc at the venue for the commissioning of some road projects undertaken by the NDDC, which were facilitated by the senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong.
The roads were part of projects lined up for commissioning by the minister of regional development, Abubakar Momoh, with the support of the managing director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku.
Apart from the roads, the state office of the commission was also listed for commissioning.
Whereas the road was to be commissioned around 11 am, thugs believed to be loyal to the suspected local government official stormed the venue earlier and brough down the canopies, chasing away those who had already assembled and waiting for the arrival of dignitaries. Some of the canopies were even carted away by the security operatives.
It was learnt that the government official had claimed to be carrying out orders from above and had ordered that the event must not hold because the state government was not informed of the roads commissioning.
Banners bearing the images of the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu which had already been mounted at the venue, while canopies and chairs were scattered, with the security ordering people out of the venue.
Temporarily, the community dwellers and other guests were forced to vacate the venue. But normalcy was to be restored much later, just before Ogbuku, Ekpenyong and other dignitaries arrived for the commissioning.
It is not clear if the state government actually had a hand in the shameful action of the thugs, but there has been a cold war between the senator and the governor, Senator Bassey Otu over suspicion that the senator was nursing the ambition to succeed Otu.
Ekpenyong has since dismissed the suspicion. In fact, he it was that raised the motion for the adoption of the governor as sole candidate of the APC for the 2027 gubernatorial election.
At the commissioning, the senator even spoke glowingly about the governor, praising him for his development projects and for giving the state a face-lift in just two years.
The senator has repeatedly said he had no ambition to contest against Otu in 2027. It is believed that if anything, Ekpenyong may be seeking to return to the senate.
But speculations that the governor had vowed not to allow Ekpenyong to get the APC ticket has refused to die down. Otu and Ekpenyong are from the same Odukpani local government.
An official of the state government who spoke on the matter pleaded not to be named, but argued that the governor had no hand in the incident.
