ABSTARCT
Communal conflicts and violence have become a plague that has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian economy. These conflicts result from different value systems, aggressive competition for environmental resources and ethnic/identity crisis amongst others. In the study area, several communal clashes abound. The major consequence of this bloody communal clashes have been an outright reduction in the livelihood and development potential of the people. Through empirical survey of 8 communities; information on the major causes and patterns of communal conflicts and its effect on development in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria were obtained. Three hypotheses were measured, tested, and correlated. Using Chi-square X2 =
(O – E)2/E at a significant level of 0.05 degree of freedom.
These include: (1) there is no significant relationship between communal conflicts and rural development. (2)There is no significant relationship between farmland dispute and rural development (3) there is no significant relationship between community violence and rapiddevelopment of rural areas.The result indicates that development in the study area has been adversely retarded by communal conflicts.