Governor Ben Ayade of
Cross River State said he has withdrawn certificates of recognition from traditional rulers whose communities have been involved in communal clashes as a result of boundary disputes.
Ayade disclosed this at the end of a security meeting which he held with the service chiefs in the state.
“Traditional rulers whose communities are in wanton situation stand the risk of loosing their certificates of recognition”, the Governor queried.
The governor stated that henceforth Cross River State shall no longer be a “Save Heaven” for criminal elements.
Ayade added that, one of the policy thrusts of his administration was to put an end to all forms of criminality. “We shall put an end to this security threat, anything that will have to impinge on the security well-being and education of our people shall no longer be acceptable”.
To stem the tide of all forms of criminality in the state, the governor stated that security agents would extend “Operation Delta Save” whose focus is to protect oil pipelines to Calabar.
He said that about 47 criminal suspects had been arrested by the police, adding that Cross River would embark on 24 hours security watch to enable security agents fish out all criminal suspects.
The governor stated that the security agents recently arrested 17 criminal suspects who had made confessional statements leading to the identification of three kingpins.
“I urged the Federal Government to look into the jurisprudence of our ceded oil wells, C’River State cannot go on begging”, Ayade added.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar