40 people killed in Nigeria community clash

At least 40 people have been killed in a boundary clash between two local communities of Nigeria's southeastern states, a local government official told reporters on Tuesday. The clashes erupted as residents from Ntan Obu-Ukpe in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River and Ikpanya Community in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom started a fight over land right disputes, said Stephen Asuquo, the Chairman of Odukpani Council. "There is no house standing there, the entire village has been destroyed and burnt down," the council chairman told reporters on Tuesday noting that the clashes happened in the wee hours of the morning of Wednesday last week. Asuquo called on the federal government to act on the judgment of the Supreme Court of June 24, 2005, which demarcated the boundary between Cross River and Akwa Ibom. "This is to ensure that people from the other side keep to their side and if they are coming here they will come as tenants and they will be welcome and not as invaders," he added. Confirming the incident, Cross River State police spokepserson Hogan Bassey said he could not give the exact number of those who lost their lives. Nigeria has a population of 167 million and disputes about land and the ensuing violence has long been a headache for the Nigerian government, who is struggling to fight the rampant Boko Haram militants in the north.