Obono-Obla rejects Atiku's Calabar insecurity claim, calls Obi convoy clash isolated
- Obono-Obla said on national television that Calabar has no security problem and is among Nigeria's safest cities.
- He credited Governor Bassey Otu with appointing a retired Major General as security adviser and boosting security support.
- He called the stone-throwing at Peter Obi's campaign convoy an isolated case, not a sign of wider insecurity.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and human rights activist, Obono-Obla, has pushed back at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his recent comments on security in Calabar, saying the Cross River State capital is not unsafe.
Speaking on a national television programme, Obono-Obla said the claim did not reflect what residents experience day to day. He described Calabar as one of the safest cities in the country and said the former Vice President was relying on hearsay rather than facts.
He was also critical of Atiku for raising the matter at all, saying it was unbecoming of someone who once held the office of Vice President to speak about security in the city in that way.
What he said about Governor Otu's record
Obono-Obla credited Governor Bassey Otu with turning the security situation around since taking office. He said kidnappings of university lecturers and doctors were once a frequent occurrence in the state, and that the governor moved quickly to address it.
According to him, Otu appointed a retired Major General as state security adviser and provided support to the police and other security agencies working in Cross River.
He said those steps explain why the city is now calmer than it was before the current administration.
The Peter Obi convoy incident
On the reported stone-throwing at the campaign convoy of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Obono-Obla said such incidents happen during campaigns, including in older democracies like the United States.
He called it an isolated case and argued it should not be read as evidence that Calabar is unsafe. He also raised the possibility that the trouble came from within Obi's own party rather than from outside.
Neither Atiku's camp nor Obi's campaign has responded to his remarks in the reports available.
What happens next
The exchange adds to the debate over security as campaigning picks up. Voters in Cross River and elsewhere will weigh claims like these against what they see in their own communities, and the state government's security record is likely to stay in the spotlight.
