Cross River denies military expedition in Calabar

The Special Assistant on Media and Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, Christian Ita, has debunked reports trending in the social media that Calabar, the capital had allegedly come under military bombardment.

Ita described the report as unfounded and untrue, adding that it was fabricated by twisted minds for devious purposes. Ita, in a statement issued Tuesday said the claim of bombardment of Calabar or any part of the state is baseless, as there was no such thing in the state.

His words: “There is no military raid going on in Calabar. And there has been no bomb attack in the state capital. The only military expedition that took place sometime last week was an operation undertaken by the Nigerian Airforce to flush out criminals along the Cross River/Akwa Ibom waterways, which is far removed from towns and civilian population.”

Ita who disclosed that the said military exercise only lasted for a day, further warned: “As long as we cannot dissuade or prevent anybody from pursuing any course they deem fit, they should leave Cross River State out of their clandestine campaign and look elsewhere. All pictures purportedly showing places that were bombed were all simulated and products of Photoshop.”

He is “particularly alarmed that peddlers of the mischievous information have gone to the extent of simulating photographs to paint the picture that Calabar is under siege or military bombardment.”

He therefore urged the public to disregard the antics of mischief makers who are desperately trying to whip up public sentiment for their parochial agenda.