Mbu Liku refutes allegation of hiring soldiers to flog allottee farmers at Abonita cocoa estate

A cocoa farmer operating at the contentious Abonita cocoa estate, in Etung local government area of Cross River state, Mr. Mbu Liku, has fired back at a group of farmers who accused of engaging the services of soldiers to beat his fellow farmers at Abonita cocoa estate in Etung local government area of Cross River state.

The farmer debunked the allegation while reacting on the issue with LEADERSHIP on Tuesday in Calabar.

Liku denied saying that at no time did he engaged the services of any soldier to physically assault, intimidate or harass a fellow farmer as claimed by a group of farmers whom he alleged were doing on the instruction of one Njor Asu, to blackmail him.

Recall some aggrieved farmers at the cocoa estate had earlier this week accused Mbu Liku, of using soldiers to beat, intimidate fellow farmers, chasing them away from their farms and usurping their farm produce.

The allotees, who include Mr. Joseph Ekong, Pastor Duke Njor, Ekuri Boniface, Nic Ntui, Clement Isong-Amba, and Pastor Etta Roland, alleged that soldiers had on several occasions assaulted and harassed them on the orders of Mbu Liku.

“Why would I order soldiers to assault my fellow farmers?  I am not a serving officer No. I am a common civil like they are.

“This is the biggest lie from the pit of hell. Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I can’t hurt even a fly, talk less of hurting my fellow farmers.

” Those accusing me of having an alliance with soldiers in the estate are the thieves and people with questionable character and terribly afraid of the presence of any security personnel around the estate because their hands aren’t clean,” Liku maintained.

Mbu Liku urged the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, to arrest and try his rival cocoa farmers at the estate, Mr. Njor Asu, for alleged involvement in arms deal within the Abonita Agborkim Cocoa estate located along Ajassor Mfum borders closed to the Cameroon borders.

“Asu had been neck deep in arms deal for about five to six years now. In 2022, his boys were caught along Ogoja Highway by security operatives around Ogoja axis

“They were taken to Calabar after arresting Njor Asu himself and handing them over to anti-cultism and after two weeks of detention, they released him. In 2024, he sent his boys to go after army guns.

“Some of those pictures he has been parading himself with are pictures of my victims are pictures captured during that period when his boys stole the army’s gun and they were tortured until the gun was produced.

“It’s unfortunate that he now displays the pictures as photographs of people harassed in my father’s cocoa farm which he has been trying to usurp.

Calls put forward to the Ikom based entrepreneur to find out if he was the one behind sponsorship of the aggrieved cocoa farmers pointing accusing fingers at Mbu Liku, but he denied the allegation saying the that Mbu Liku is a liar.

By: Archibong Emmanuel

(Snr. Reporter)