*Over 2,000
families sacked, others held captive
About 97
Nigerians are feared killed as Cameroon Gendermes allegedly attacked residents
of Bakassi over failure to pay a N100,000 boat levy.It was learnt that the
attackers sacked mainly Nigerians from Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Ondo states.
Many others escaped at midnight with their fishing boats and arrived at Ikang
in Bakassi and Ibaka in Akwa Ibom.
The killing
and sacking of Nigerians in former Bakassi is believed to be a violation of the
2005 Green Tree Agreement (GTA) by the Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission which
stipulates that the Bakassi returnees must be properly resettled to their
natural habitat so that they can have a meaningful living. The GTA also states
that Nigerians who choose to remain in Cameroon can do so without any
molestation. The agreement makes it clear that there would be a committee
monitoring the activities but since the day the treaty was signed, Bakassi people
have not seen any monitoring team.
Federal
government officials yesterday evaded questions from The Guardian as government
spokesmen failed to respond to inquiries. Three text messages seeking
clarification on what the official reaction of Nigeria would be did not elicit
any response. At Ikang beach, it was a picture of abandoned and traumatised
people. Most of them remained at the jetty looking disillusioned and rejected,
while a few women with their babies and children moved into Ikang village for shelter.
They looked
helpless, as they pondered on how to survive, pointing at some of the boats
they managed to rescue — apparently the only property they came back with.The
fate of the Bakassi people at the hands of the Cameroon Gendarmes, and even
back home since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgement, has been
that of neglect by the Nigerian government. The internally displaced persons
from Bakassi Cameroon since the GTA 12 years ago have lived in squalor in
rickety mosquito-infested classroom blocks in Cross River and Akwa Ibom despite
complaints from notable leaders like Senator Florence Ita-Giwa and the Bakassi
paramount ruler, Etinyin Etim Okon Edet.
The
situation is so bad that in the Akwa Ikot Edem Udo IDP camp, over 1,000
children are not in school. The Bakassi IDPs and the latest returnees have
accused the Cross River State government and Federal Government of playing
politics with their lives and means of livelihood.At the Ikang Beach in the new
Bakassi yesterday, many of the returnees with their wooden engine boats were
seen hanging around the jetty, lamenting their fate.
They alleged
constant harassment and raping of their women by the gendarmes. They said
yesterday’s incident was the climax as the attackers came shooting and chasing
them away for refusing to pay the N100,000 engine boat tax.
One of the
returnees, Chief Umoh Umoh Inyang, said that from Akpankanya in Abana, the
headquarters of former Bakassi “the Cameroonian gendarmes have been harassing
us. They destroyed our boats, beat us and shot many of us to death. They make a
lot of trouble for us in Akpankanya in Bakassi.
“They would
not let us carry on with our lives and livelihood in peace. The suffering is so
much that we have to come back. They would not let us go to the sea for our
fishing, and in our houses where we were just staying, they came and asked us
to pay N100, 000 for each boat and when we said we did not have such money,
they started beating us. They shot many of us.
“We had to
leave suddenly, and so many people missed their children and members of their
families. We got to this Ikang jetty around 2:00 a.m. today. They even raped
our wives. Many of our people have been held captive there. They have killed
about 97 people. Many people ran into the bush, many are scattered along the
waterways. We came in all these boats you are seeing here. We were over 2,000
who were scattered over there. At least 94 were killed in Atabong where we
were. We don’t know about other areas. We were hearing gunshots all over the
place. We have about 137 who landed here in Ikang. The number is actually
growing because we were 132 when we first got here and the immigration
officials are registering us.”
Another
returnee Mr. Nse Okon, from Akpankanya in Abana, said: “They destroyed
everything. In 2008 they killed three people who worked with me. The government
should come to our aid and resettle us properly in our own country. This time
around, they came and told me to pay N100, 000 tax for this engine and I said I
did not have that kind of money. That is why they started beating us.
“The
Nigerian government should intervene urgently in this matter. Let the
international community also intervene in this matter. Our land has been ceded
and the people are not accommodating us there. If we can be resettled here and
given work to survive, we would be grateful. They should note that we cannot
survive upland too because we are all fishermen and most of us did not go to
school. So they should resettle us and create alternatives for us to survive.”
The IDP camp
leader at Aqua Ikot Edem Udo, Mr. Ene Okon said: “I don’t know what our leaders
have been doing. These things continue, despite the Green Tree Agreement and
the Federal Government is silent about it. Those displaced in 2013 are still
living in an open hall in a primary school.”
The Chief
Press Secretary to the State Governor and Senior Special Assistant on Media,
Mr. Christian Ita said: “I think enquiries should be directed to the Federal
Government. They should not kill Cross River after all they have collected
everything.”
He pointed
out that “there was a Green Tree Agreement that was signed and if Cameroon is
defaulting on it, it is not a sub-national issue but a national and
international issue. Cross River is not even a party to it but as usual Cross
River will offer them the basic necessity to keep them alive. But the truth of
the matter is that when such a thing happens, it is the Federal Government that
should take it up.”
0 Comments