Many communities in Odukpani LGA of Cross River State have asked the federal government not to carry out its threat of not paying compensation for their ancestral heritage such as shrines and community halls demolished for road reconstruction.
Their stand came in response to the threat by the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, that the federal government would not pay for shrines erected on the Calabar-Itu federal highway when he visited the state recently to inspect some federal government projects.
An elder in Okurikang community, Chief Okon Ikpeme, said their shrines existed many decades before the construction of the highway in about 1978.
A youth leader, Edem Ekpenyong, said the minister should reconsider and withdraw the threat so as not to provoke the gods.
Ekpenyong said, “We strongly appeal to the minister not to carry out the threat. We cannot lose our lands and also lose our ancestral heritage. Otherwise government would be provoking many families and the gods.”
Mr Fashola had, while in Ikom, insisted that the President Buhari administration would not pay compensation for shrines erected along the Calabar -Itu road.
He, however, assured that compensation would be paid for economic crops and trees affected by the reconstruction.
Fashola said, “The president has said investment is a trade-off and those who want infrastructure must be ready to offer some land.
“We are not taking your land away, we just want a right of way to pass, so we want to plead with the communities to allow us pass.
“We will pay reasonable compensation for crops, but certainly not shrines that you built on the sides of the road to claim money.
“The president has said that is not our responsibility, so we expect to see more cooperation to ensure the completion of this road.”
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