The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bakassi

  • Groups urge speedy resettlement of Bakassi returnees

    As a result of lack of seriousness on the part of the Federal Government over proper re-settlement of the displaced people of the ceded Bakassi Peninsula, several groups have appealed that something should be urgently done about the situation.

    Ani Esin, Eneyo Eyo, Maurice Ekong, Ekeng Effiom Ekeng and Emmanuel Edet who are leaders of Bakassi Union, Association of Dayspring Landlords, Save Bakassi Group, Bakassi Indigenous Contractors and Business Forum and the Niger Delta Youths Movement respectively said in a joint statement that they had to join forces following unresolved issues about the ceded peninsula.

    They also called for payment of compensation to the people of Ikang in Akpabuyo Local Government Area whose environment has become Bakassi Local Government Area.

    Other issues they raised included the unpublished report of the Cobham Committee on the resettlement, unresolved and complicated issues about the maritime boundaries and the citizenship of Bakassi indigenes abandoned in the Republic of Cameroon.

    They, however, commended President Goodluck Jonathan and the Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke for nominating their son, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw as chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    This, they said, had rekindled their faith and hope in the country and their situation.

     

  • UN lauds Nigeria, Cameroon over ‘Bakassi transition’

    UN lauds Nigeria, Cameroon over ‘Bakassi transition’

    The United Nations Security Council has welcomed the peaceful conclusion of a special transitional regime established by an agreement between Nigeria and Cameroon concerning the Bakassi Peninsula.

    The 15-member body in a statement commended the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon “for their commitment in honouring the obligations to comply with the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and for the responsible and peaceful way in which they resolved their differences on this matter.”

    In June 2006, the two countries signed the UN-backed Greentree Agreement setting the terms and timeframe for the implementation of the 2002 ruling of the ICJ, which transferred the Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon.

    The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Nigeria formally ceded the territory in 2008 and since then a transitional phase has been in place to give full sovereignty of the territory to Cameroon.

    The council, however, commended the role played by the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA) in chairing the Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission and the Follow-up Committee established to monitor the implementation of the Greentree Agreement.

    “The members of the Security Council commend the efforts of the Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission in facilitating the performance of the obligations under the judgment of the International Court of Justice and the demarcating of the land and maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon,” it said.

     

  • Diseases, malnutrition ravage infants at Bakassi camp

    Diseases, malnutrition ravage infants at Bakassi camp

    Fifteen –year-old Blessing Ene Okon was huddled up with over 2, 000 other returnees in classrooms, until she developed a strange ailment which has left her with a distended stomach and swollen feet since April.

    She is one of the Bakassi returnees who were evicted by Cameroonian gendarmes last March 7 and are now quartered in classrooms at St Marks Primary School and Community Secondary School both in Akwa Ikot Edem in Akpabuyo Local Government Area.

    Her father, Mr Edet Ene Okon, 40, lamented that his daughter, who is presently in the paediatric section of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, is in a critical state and may get worse, if nothing is done urgently.

    He said efforts to get assistance from the state government have so far proven abortive and the over N200, 000 donated to him by the Clan Head of Eyo Edem Clan in Akpabuyo has since been exhausted.

    She needs blood transfusion and is in pains, he said, adding that they were too financially exhausted to even afford food and drugs for her.

    “Since they pursued us from Cameroon, we left everything we had and came here. We don’t have any money and it was only the clan head who has helped us this far. Please government should come to our aid. As I talk to you I don’t even have N10 and the hospital needs money to continue her treatment,” he said.

    Blessing’s situation is the worst of the cases of over 700 children who are presently exposed to unhealthy, poor sanitary and feeding conditions in the temporary camp. Not all of them have a benefactor like Blessing.

    The camp leader, Etim Okon Ene, said the situation in the camp is terrible especially for the children. Besides being exposed to the weather and various ailments without healthcare, they are also malnourished because food supplied by the State Emergency Management Agency cannot meet their needs. They also lack potable water.

    Ene said: “The condition of the children is very bad. Not properly clothed. No financial assistance for the mothers to take care of them. No social welfare for us. The state government has put in place a conditional cash transfer programme. That programme should be extended to us here in the camp. Even when the children are very ill, there is no money to pay transport fare not even to talk of hospital bills or buying medicine.

    “Presently, there is no health facility in the camp. Government has tried by trying to know what is happening here, but that is the only thing they have done for us. The returnees here have no money. Government should help. Blessing’s problem started here; she should not die.

    “We are desperate. It is not until someone dies that something should happen. Some of these children here have been wearing just one cloth for weeks. We need money to manage the camp. When the children are sick, we use bitter leaf and scent leaf to prepare their medicine. That is the only thing we have been using here since.”

    Ene lauded SEMA for always providing them food, but said this was not enough. He said besides the rice, beans, Geisha, noodles, they needed to have some money in their pockets to be able to take care of other vital needs.

    Such vital needs, he said, included mothers’ ability to take their children to the hospital for check-ups and to afford food that will be nutritional to the children.

    Promise Edet is a 17-year- old girl who has been taking care of her late sister’s one- year-old baby, Favour. She said the baby is always sick. “Since we got here she has not taken any medicine or gone to any hospital because we cannot afford it. The baby is just over one year now and she cannot even crawl not to talk of walking. She needs drugs and food and proper healthcare.

    “We have only been grinding bitter leaf and rubbing her and giving her to drink and also use it to give her enema. The place we sleep is also not good for her. It is too open and the cold weather is making her sick.”

    The story is the same for six other mothers, such as Magadalene Okon Etim, who gave birth in camp to baby Esther three months ago. She said: “Since she (baby) was born in this camp, I have not taken her to the hospital. I have not been treating her. It is a miracle that nobody has died here.”

    Another mother in the camp, Magdalene Rita, said her son Moses, who is almost two years old, is always falling ill .

    She said, “The food he is eating here is not good with him. He has not been feeding properly. If we had any money, I would love to be giving him vegetables, fish, meat, eggs and other foods that would really be good for him. He is not having balanced diet here.”

    A camp official, Prince Aston, said it was unforunate that the Federal Government could cater for former militants but abandon displaced persons.

    He said: “Why can they (government) not take care of returnees who committed no crime but are in dire need of government help? These people lost their land and everything and now they are not taken care of. The only thing we have here is camera response. Nothing is coming out of it.

    “You can see the children are not fine. One of them is in a critical state. Most of them are malnourished. We are tired of being told that everything is okay; that things would be fine and then nothing would happen. While we await proper resettlement, essential amenities should be given to us.

    “The state government’s conditional cash transfer which they call Project Comfort should be made available to us. All efforts we have made to the Ministries of Health and Social Welfare to come to our aid have not yielded any result and we beg the Federal Government to intervene.”

     

  • Bakassi: A Critical Response to Jonathan’s Speech

     

    President Goodluck Jonathan has said during the interactive session with the Nigerian community in Yaounde, Cameroon, Sunday night, 23rd June 2013, that Nigeria “deliberately” refused to appeal the verdict of the International Court of Justice which ceded the oil-rich Bakassi territory to Cameroun on the 10th of October, 2002. That the major reason is just to protect Nigerians residing in Cameroun and he also said that Nigeria had no new evidence within the period of 10 years given by the ICJ in Article 61 (1).

    Let me say that the statement is fallacy, scandalous, cruel and a grave mistake; it is a known fact today that the Federal Government of Nigeria erroneously and unprofessionally ceded the oil-rich bakassi to Cameroun due to her own laxity.

    It is irresponsible for any Government to admit she intentionally gave out her own territory for any self-centered reasons at the expense of her own National interest, territorial integrity, and the right of her own citizenry. One of the basic foreign policy focuses of any responsible nation is the protection of her sovereignty and territorial integrity. If our Government is claiming that her negligence to appeal the ICJ verdict is to protect Nigerians residing in Cameroun, what about the citizens in the bakassi itself? Do you cut off a man’s head just to curb a headache ailment? The action in return negates the interest of Bakassi people and it is a total denial to their right of self-determination.

    The president’s premise that Nigeria had no new evidence within the 10-years grace as stated in Article 61 of the Statute of the ICJ is a bogus and gigantic fallacy, as several facts emerged during the 10-year period that were sufficient to file an appeal.

    Some Facts that emerged are:

    1. Prof. Walter Ofonagoro, a historian and former Nigerian Information Minister disclosed while speaking to Nigerian public on a topic:- “Nigeria, Cameroun and the Bakassi Question: The Unfulfilled UN Mandate” organized by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs which was held on Thursday, August 23, 2012 in Lagos said: “fresh facts have emerged to show that the Cameroonian legal team deceived the ICJ into believing that before the Anglo-German treaty of 1913 upon which it rested its case, there were no other treaties that delineated the land and maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon, which is a fraudulent claim”. Prof. Ofonagoro said that he has in his possession, 1822 documents which vested ownership of the Bakassi Peninsula to the Old Calabar Chiefs, by extension to Nigeria, and debunked claims that the 1913 Anglo-German treaty was the first recognised treaty on the land and maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon. Said Prof. Ofonagoro: “This is not true because as far back as 1811, the British had already established a strong sphere of influence over the territories that eventually became Nigeria in 1914.

    The Anglo- German treaty upon which Cameroon built its case was contestable because after the First World war ended in 1919, all the territories controlled by Germany were taken away from them and given to the League of Nations. Cameroon of 1919 was not the Cameroon of 1913, because after the end of the First World War, Germany was forced to give up all its territories in Africa, which came under the mandate of League of Nations. Germany renounced all its claims to territories and all the treaties it entered into which gave it control of territories, became a nullity. The League of Nations consisting of Britain, France and Italy, the territory of Cameroon was carved up by France which took the Northern part.

    2. There were also clear cases of ethnic cleansing in Bakassi peninsula in the past 10 years in violation of the Green Tree Agreement of 2006, increasing violation of rights of Nigerian inhabitants of the Peninsula, the militarization of the place and the obstruction of lawful economic activities of the inhabitants. All these could serve as grounds of appeal which the FG neglected; Reports of intimidation and terrorizing of Nigerians in the Peninsula constitute what is called a material-breach of the Green-Tree Agreement. It is a sufficient ground for Nigeria to terminate the Green-Tree Agreement. That would be in conformity with Article 60, of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaty of 1969.

     

    3. According to international practice, consent of people residing in the territory (by way of plebiscite), is a condition-precedent to any transfer or change in title over the territory that they occupy. Even when the fate of Northern and Southern Cameroun were to be determined, a plebiscite was conducted in 1961, under which Southern Cameroun opted to join Cameroun, while Northern Cameroun opted to join Nigeria. That could be a case, which confirmed what is called Right to Self-Determination. I am of the view that it is still part and parcel of international best practices that inhabitants of the territory are consulted and allowed to make their own choice. I think the interest of the inhabitants ought to have been given greater resonance. This also is enough a critical point to raise before the ICJ for the appeal.

     

    4. Another fact is that the said Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties as contained in Article 46(1) where it states: – “A State may not invoke the fact its consent to be bound by a treaty has been expressed in violation of a provision of its internal law regarding competence to conclude treaties as invalidating its consent unless that violation was manifest and concerned a rule of its internal law of fundamental importance.”

    Article 46 (2) further presented some clarifications to the above provisions:- “A violation is manifest if it would be objectively evident to any State conducting itself in the matter in accordance with normal practice and in good faith.”

     

    These provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties equally present Nigeria with an option to challenge a violation of its internal procedures for legitimising treaties/agreement which the Green Tree Agreement of 2006 did not observed. Under the Nigerian Constitution the Treaty cannot apply, except and unless and only to the extent that such a treaty has been transformed into the Nigerian law. Since the Treaty has not been approved by the (Nigerian) National Assembly for the domestication, Nigeria cannot carry out the provisions of that Agreement. The treaty ought to have been transformed into Nigerian law before the Nigerian government either ratifies it or implements it. That is why the residents of Bakassi feel aggrieved that the necessary measures had not been taken before their territory was transferred to a foreign country.

     

    All the aforementioned premises were enough grounds for our callous one-sided government to utilise but due to some selfish self-centered reasons known to the government, she decided not to appeal the Judgment at the expense of the Bakassi people and Nigerians at large.

     

    Way forward

    Since the legal window has already been closed, what is needed, therefore, is a comprehensive framework and strategy to carry out diplomatic negotiation that represents the interest of bakassi people and the interest of all Nigerians at large.

     

    Recommendation

    Total buy-out of bakassi: Negotiation should immediately commence between Nigeria and Cameroun to buy back the peninsula which we in error transferred to them. If we give them an offer that is so juicy that cannot be refused, then the Cameroonians might reconsider and sell off the disputed bakassi. We can settle them, using money. It is to be pointed out clearly to them that there are no way they are going to enjoy those resources without taking Nigeria and Nigerians’ interest into account. Because, if they want to lay claim to the continental shelf under the law of the sea, their claim would have to overlap the claim of Nigeria because looking at the geography, at the map of Cameroun, their shelf locked as it is in international law; they don’t have enough room to utilise or to lay claim to 200 nautical miles, which international law grants to them. This is because Nigeria too has a claim of 200 miles, so there is going to be a conflict. Therefore, Nigeria might propose to them to engage in ‘unitisation or joint development zone’ for the exploitation of the resources. And bring them within the arrangement that we have established with country like Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe under which Nigeria and say Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe will jointly exploit the resources and the proceeds are shared on 60:40 ratios. In other words, Cameroun should be properly advised to think of the future and think of the larger thing that lies ahead for that country in terms of its relations with Nigeria.

    This is exactly what I think should be the paramount concern of the Federal Government now, rather than making statement that will unleash the already inflicted pains and heartbreak that is being nurtured by the bakassi people and Nigerians at large.

    Adeniyi, is a political/human right activist, philosopher and scholar of International Law and Diplomacy, University of Lagos. He can be reached via debscom1@yahoo.com

     

     

  • Why Nigeria didn’t appeal ICJ ruling on Bakassi, by Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has given reasons why Nigeria did not appeal the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which awarded the oil-rich territory of Bakassi to Cameroon in 2002.

    Speaking during an interactive session with the Nigerian community in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday night, he said Nigeria did not appeal to ensure the protection of its citizens living in Cameroon.

    According to him, when two countries are friendly, the citizens also tend to be friendly, but when two countries disagree, their citizens also tend to disagree.

    President Jonathan said Nigeria had no new evidence within the period given that would make a difference in the judgment.

    The President is in Cameroon for the Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), which started yesterday and is focusing on maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea.

    While the area has been guarded by Cameroonian soldiers since their country took control of the territory from Nigeria on August 14, 2008, there was a deadline for Nigerians there to decide to become Cameroonians latest by August 2012 or leave the territory.

    Jonathan said: “You all know what happened in Bakassi. There is no need to go back on why we couldn’t appeal. We had no new evidence within the period of time given that would make a difference in the judgment.

    “Our people should live a good and decent life in Cameroon. The forces of animosity are dying down and the relationship is improving.”

    He assured the citizens that his administration was committed to their welfare and that their concern on the high cost of residence permits, high cost of tuition fees for students, among others, would be tabled before his host, President Paul Biya, to find a solution to them.

    Hailing the good reports on Nigerians in Cameroon, President Jonathan assured that the concerns raised on security, power and infrastructural deficits in Nigeria are being tackled.

    He said progress has been made in key sectors during two years of his administration’s tenure.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Why Nigeria didn’t appeal ICJ ruling on Bakassi-Jonathan

    Why Nigeria didn’t appeal ICJ ruling on Bakassi-Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has given reasons why Nigeria did not appeal the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which awarded the oil-rich territory of Bakassi to Cameroon in 2002.

    Speaking during an interactive session with Nigerian community in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday night, Jonathan said that Nigeria did not appeal in order to ensure the protection of Nigerians living in Cameroon.

    According to him, when two countries are friendly, the people of the two countries also tend to be friendly, but when the two countries disagree, their citizens tend to disagree also.

    He also explained that Nigeria had no new evidence within the period of time that was given that will make a difference in the judgement.

    Jonathan is in Cameroon for the summit of Heads of States and Governments of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), which started yesterday and focusing on maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea.

    While the area had been heavily guarded by Cameroonian soldiers since their country took control of the territory from Nigeria on August 14, 2008, there is a deadline for Nigerians there to decide to become Cameroonian latest by August 2012 or leave the territory.

    He said: “You all know what happened in Bakassi, there is no need to go back on why we couldn’t appeal. We had no new evidence within the period of time that was given that will make a difference in the judgement.

    “Our people should live a good and decent life in Cameroon. The forces of animosity are gradually dying down and the relationship is improving”. He added

    Jonathan assured the citizens that his government was totally committed to their welfare and that their concerns on high cost of residence permits, high cost of tuition fees for students among others would be tabled before his host, President Paul Biya in order to find amicable solution to them.

    Commending the good reports on Nigerians in Cameroon, he assured that the various concerns raised on security, power, infrastructural deficits back home in Nigeria are all being tackled.

    He maintained that two years of his administration has recorded significant progress in key sectors.

    Urging Nigerians in diaspora to ignore negative reports that exaggerate the problems back home, he said that they should take time out to look at the parameters, GDP growth, foreign direct investments, which, he said, showed that “the economy is strong.”

    Stressing that investors do not take money to countries where nothing is happening, the President claimed that out of every $10 that comes to the continent, $4 comes into Nigeria.

    Speaking on agriculture and cement, he noted that non-importation of rice has impacted on the country’s revenue, saying, “We cannot be a giant of Africa when we keep importing rice, we must put a stop to that. The way we are going we will soon be exporting rice in few years. We are now exporting cement about 20 million tonnes”.

    Admitting that Nigeria has health challenges, Jonathan said: “I can assure you we are on course, I will make you happy. We will exploit the opportunity”.

    He also expressed unhappiness that Nigeria is among the four countries in the world with cases of polio.

    “I’m uncomfortable with the figure, why should Nigeria be among the four countries in the world with polio? We are committed to eradicating polio and we will eradicate it”. He assured

    On the power sector, he said that his administration was almost done with the privatisation exercise and when completed, the sector “will take a life of its own.”

    He said that work has been going on on road infrastructure after the flood experienced in the country last year.

    President Jonathan also disclosed that he personally advocated voting by Nigerians in diaspora, but that he cannot use executive fiat to veto it.

    Stating that the process is on course, he urged them to be patient until the constitution is finally amended.

    He however advised those passionate about the issue to write a petition to the National Assembly in order to push for the amendment.

    He said: “On diaspora votes, I advocated for it but before we can have it the constitution will have to be amended. I cannot use executive fiat to do it, we have to follow the constitution. We have a very vibrant diaspora and should be heard. You should send your petition to National Assembly so that they will know is not only Mr. President that is interested in it”.

    Promising that he will not allow them to be victimized or maltreated, Jonathan dispelled fears that the Federal Government has abandoned Nigerians who remained in the peninsula after its transfer to Cameroon.

    Nigeria High Commissioner to Cameroon, Hadiza Mustapha, in her opening remarks said the Nigerian community “is the best community any ambassador could ask for. They are hardworking, patrotic, law-abiding and have good working relations with the Mission”.

    She said the good working relationship existing between Nigeria and Cameroon has brought about reduction in harassment of citizens living in the host country.

    She said the complains of Nigerian citizens have been tabled before the Cameroonian authorities and “so far we have no reason to doubt the commitment of our host government to address the issues”.

    The President of the Nigerian Union, Center Region, Ebere Valentine, assured the President that Nigerians in Cameroon will continue to become good ambassadors and “project the image of our country well”.

    He appealed for more government involvement in the welfare of Nigerians in Cameroon as regards the cost of residence permit, saying 50 per cent reduction will be a welcome development”.

    Olukorede Adenowo, Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank, West and Central Africa, who is the representative of Nigerians in the Corporate Sector in Cameroon, said that there were opportunities that exist in the Cameroons and advised Nigerian businessmen to take advantage of the geographical proximity and the comparatively high prices.

    He noted that Nigerian businesses were active in aviation, general commerce, downstream oil and gas and banking in the Cameroon.

    He said other areas Nigerians can assist in terms of foreign direct investment and simultaneously make decent returns in Cameroon are in oil and gas exploration and production, commercial and residential real estates, entertainments, shopping malls.

    “We have been instrumental in working with our High Commission in bringing in several Nigerian businesses and helping them find their feet in Cameroon. We Nigerian professionals are ready and available to do more”, he said.

    Representative from the Bakassi Peninsular, Chief Etim Effiong, commended President Jonathan for not abandoning those of them that choose to remain in the Cameroon as Nigerians.

    According to him, they couldn’t bare to abandon the land that belonged to their fore-fathers for years and expressed happiness that the Nigerian government was working with the Cameroonian government to make them safe and at home in their community.

     

  • Bakassi returnee in critical state

    The poor sanitary conditions at the St Mark’s Primary School, Akwa Ikot Edem in Akpabuyo –temporary home of Nigerians allegedly evicted from Cameroon– may soon claim its first victim.

    Elizabeth (15), who had been living with over 2, 000 other returnees in the classrooms since March 7, developed a strange ailment last month.

    She has swollen stomach and feet.

    Her father, Edet Ene Okon (40), said she had been hospitalised since then.

    Okon said his daughter, who is in the Paediatric Section of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), is in very critical state and may get worse, if nothing is done urgently.

    He said efforts to get assistance from the government have proven abortive and the over N200, 000 he has spent so far on her treatment was a donation from the Clan Head of Eyo Edem clan in Akpabuyo.

    He lamented that Elizabeth, who needs blood transfusion, is in pains.

    Okon said the family was financially exhausted and could not even afford to buy food and drugs.

    “Since they pursued us from Cameroon, we left everything we had and came here.

    “We don’t have any money and it is only the clan head who has helped us this far.

    “Please, let the government come to our aid. As I talk to you, I don’t even have N10 and the hospital needs money to continue her treatment.”

    Okon said when they first noticed that their daughter was not feeling fine, she was first taken to St Joseph Hospital in Akpabuyo before she was referred to the UCTH.

    Elizabeth’s mother, Christina, sitting by her daughter, cried: “Please, let something be done quickly about this matter. I don’t want to lose this child, please.”

    The youth coordinator of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Akpabuyo Division, Eyo Okon, expressed worry about the health and sanitary condition of returnees at the camp.

  • Windstorm sacks Bakassi returnees from refugee camp

    Windstorm sacks Bakassi returnees from refugee camp

    No fewer than 2,000 people have further been displaced by a windstorm, which ravaged a school block serving as refugee camp for Bakassi returnees in Cross River.

    The building, located in St Mark’s Primary School, Akwa Ikot Eyo Edem in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River, was used as a temporary camp since March 7 by the returnees.

    The Assistant Director (Information), Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. David Akate, said the storm blew off a four-classroom block and exposed the more than 2,000 returnees to inclement weather.

    Akate said: “The rains that accompanied the storm aggravated their problems as the returnees, including women and children were inundated.

    “Mattresses, sleeping mats, clothes and other personal belonging were soaked making life unbearable for the people.

    “Also pathetic was the destruction of foodstuffs such as garri, rice, beans, salt and other perishable items, subjecting the returnees to an unprecedented trauma.”

    The Camp Coordinator, Mr. Okon Ene described the situation as pathetic.

    “We had to gather the children and women to some safer places, while the men had to work throughout the night trying to salvage their property,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the camp coordinator as saying on the development.

    Assessing the damage, the Director-General, SEMA, Mr. Vincent Aquah, said efforts were being made to relocate the returnees to a safer place.

     

  • Bakassi returnees protest at UN office

    Hundreds of Bakassi returnees yesterday stormed the United Nations (UN) office in Calabar, Cross River State, to protest their neglect by the Federal Government as well as the incessant attacks on them by Cameroonians.

    The group, which was led by a Bakassi/Nigeria Liaison Officer, Aston Joseph, told the UN officials that they were unhappy with the neglect.

    The returnees also alleged that the government had stopped the payment of their social welfare package.

    He alleged that the Cross River State Government is imposing Ikang on them for their resettlement but that they prefer Dayspring Island, where they can continue their fishing.

    They said the issue of their resettlement should be handled by UN officials and the Federal Government.

    They appealed for more assistance in the areas of food supply, accommodation, healthcare, among others.

    The protesters said they have been left in penury, hunger and that their children have been thrown out of school.

    The Head of Office, Cameroun/Nigeria Mixed Commission, UN Observer Team, Emmanuel Sowatey, said his office would communicate the grievances to the UN headquarters.

    Sowatey said the UN has been conducting needs assessment to get a comprehensive detail of their needs.

     

  • Bakassi refugees resist relocation

    There was confusion at the weekend when officials of Bakassi Local Government in Cross River State, led by the Chairman, Dr Ekpo Ekpo Bassey, attempted to relocate refugees, who were allegedly evicted from Cameroon, to the resettlement camp in Ekpri Ikang.

    Ekpri Ikang is in the new Bakassi Local Government, which was created by the House of Assembly in 2007.

    The refugees, who are camped in the primary school in Akwa Ikot Edem, Akpabuyo Local Government Area, were allegedly chased from their homes in Efut Obot Ikot community in the ceded Bakassi Peninsula on March 7 by Cameroonian gendarmes.

    They have been in the school since then.

    The government officials were chased away by the refugees, who said they were not moving, except to a place of proper resettlement in Dayspring.

    It was a pathetic sight. Women and children were wailing. Men were resisting the efforts of security operatives, who came with the council officials, to move them.

    The leader of the relocation team, Iyadim Iyadim, addressed the refugees, but some of them blocked the camp’s entrance.

    They alleged that the gesture was a move to take them back to a hostile environment, where they were driven out in 2010.

    Their leader, Asuquo Etim, said: “We have said we are not going to Ekpri Ikang. We said so even when the deputy governor came here.

    “We are not going there because of the nature of that environment. We don’t like it.

    “The chairman came to force us to that place, but we told him we would not be able to go there because there we were attacked, robbed and even our women were raped.”

    Another refugee, Bassey Okon, said: “In 2008 after Bakassi was ceded, we were taken from one place to another; from Ikang primary school to the council headquarters.

    “After that they gave us N15,000 to start life afresh. Imagine, I was given N15, 000 to cater for my family of five.

    “Later, they allocated the housing estate to us but one day they came and drove us out and re-allocated that same estate to people who were not refugees.

    “Due to the trauma, I went back to Bakassi Peninsula to see if I could make ends meet, and the Cameroonians brutalised us and you are saying you want to take us back to Ikang again to torture us as was done some years ago.

    “We will not go to Ikang. We prefer to die here, if government would not resettle us in the place of our choice, which is Dayspring.”