THE Cross River State Government will henceforth seize any land where there is communal conflict to stem the tide of such incessant conflicts.

The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, disclosed this on Tuesday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists secretariat in Calabar during an award conferred on the Special Adviser to Governor Ben Ayade on Cocoa Development, Dr. Oscar Ofuka.

According to the Speaker, “Any community where there is dispute, the land will be confiscated and cocoa will be planted there.”

He said the House of Assembly was in the process of enacting a law to that effect.

Williams said the award of Most Valuable Icon of Socio-Economic Transformation conferred on Ofuka was well deserved, adding that “Ofuka has done well. Nigerians have noticed you.”

The National Co-ordinator of Media Initiative for National Advancement, organisers of the award, Ene Okon, said, while conferring the award on the governor’s aide, that the recipient was making giant stride “towards revamping the cocoa agricultural sub-sector towards repositioning the state as the leading producer of cocoa.

“We understand that you have used cocoa to empower many people; so, keep it up.”

Responding, Ofuka thanked the organisation “for deeming it fit to honour me this day. Cocoa is a very important cash crop in Nigeria and Cross River is cocoa hub in Nigeria. We intend to take over from Cote d’Ivoire. We are expanding and planting cocoa everywhere in Cross River.”

He dedicated the award to Governor Ben Ayade, saying the governor’s cocoa revolution is to take it to the promised land and take the youths off the streets through the massive employment the sector would generate.