THE drums of war are currently beating in Bakassi, the oil-rich peninsular that Nigeria ceded to Cameroun in 2008.
Ten years after a judgement of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, and four years after the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua ceded the area to Cameroun, indigenes of the peninsular have vowed to reclaim their land, with or without the support of the Nigerian government. Already there is palpable tension in Bakassi as militants under the aegis of the Bakassi Freedom Fighters, have hoisted their flag in Abana and ordered its people still living in the ceded territory to vacate or be crushed.
If the threats of the fighters are to be taken lightly, the words of the Paramount ruler of Bakassi, Etiyin Etim Okon Edet on Thursday confirmed an imminent showdown.
He warned that the people of Bakassi have exhausted all options in their quest to reclaim the oil rich peninsular and will now choose the path of war if the Federal Government fails to act fast by way of properly resettling the displaced people.
Bakassi was until 2002 fully under the administration of Nigeria. It was disputed between the country and its Eastern neighbour, Cameroun, until the ICJ ruling in 2002 which favoured Cameroun as the owner of the region. That decision and the subsequent handover of the area to Cameroun caused the Federal Government to relocate some Nigerians resident in the area to other areas in Cross Rivers State.
But today, the people of Bakassi have said that they are fed up with both the relocation by the Federal Government and the occupation of the area by Cameroun.
The Bakassi monarch, who was speaking at the Traditional Rulers’ Council Chambers in Calabar, when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties and Agreements, said the country might soon witness another bout of violence and bombings, adding, “This time around, not by Boko Haram but by the Bakassi people who have been unjustly treated by the nation”
Edet, who is also the Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council in Cross Rivers State, said, “We have not been fairly treated by this nation and what we are looking for now is to go back to our area by any means possible.
We will fight with the last drop of our blood to reclaim our ancestral land.
“We don’t even want relocation any longer or any appeal in any court because it is going to be a waste of time and money. We are going to take it by whatever means because we have been left astray for almost 10 years.
“I have heard some people doing bomb; they have not seen bomb yet.
What they are doing is a very small bomb. What they are fighting for maybe, is not even up to the magnitude of our own. Our own is that of the whole Local government.”
The Monarch added, “The process is on and we are going back to our area. We will take it by any means possible. We don’t have any problem with Nigeria. Our problem is with the Cameroun; that they must leave our area and they are going to leave very soon. We have been assured that they will leave.
Nigeria can go and leave us. There was Bakassi before political Nigeria and there was Bakassi before political Cameroun”.
He declared further “There are enough problems already in this country and the president should not have additional one. People have been dreaming and planning on how to break Nigeria and people have been predicting that in 2015, Nigeria will break up and they have been looking for avenues to achieve this and Nigeria is opening its flanks to those things and so many things are happening unabated.
Bakassi will be one of them and when anything happens, the God almighty will exonerate us.
“Nigeria will bear us witness that we have waited for long. We don’t have any problem with ICJ and I don’t want anybody to go and appeal any case because it will be a waste of time and money. We want to take our area out and we will do so and Nigerians will see with their two eyes that God is still on the throne.”
The paramount ruler expressed dissatisfaction with the United Nations Mixed Commission that was set up during the ceding of Bakassi to monitor the implementation of the treaty.
He said that the Commission has performed below par.
He, however, urged the United Nations to set up an independent body to re-evaluate the work of the Mixed Commission.
Reacting to the development, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke said the ICJ Judgment of 2002 and the Green Tree Agreement which was a fall-out of the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun, had stated that the exercise would not be punitive on the people.
The governor remarked that by losing Bakassi, Nigeria has failed to address the rights of the people and that the issue should be brought to the fore.
Imoke maintained that the Green Tree Agreement between Nigeria and Cameroun which is yet to be ratified should not be punitive to any citizen of the country.
He said the Committee’s visit would provide it with opportunities to get the facts and see what the implications of the treaty have been.
The governor observed that the committee’s presence in the state was an indication of its determination to foster good relations between Nigeria and its neighbour and ensure that the treaties or agreements are beneficial to the people.
Imoke hoped that the visit would also afford the committee the opportunity to interact with stakeholders and at the end, get them better informed on how the treaty is related to Cross Rivers in view of the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon.
Imoke explained that the ICJ’s judgment on Bakassi in 2002 and the Green Tree Agreement were specific as certain actions were expected to be taken.
He disclosed that it provided for a transition period of five years and a joint administration of the area in dispute but regretted that the territory was handed over in 2008, even though the judgment was delivered in 2002 with no regards to the agreement.
“The Agreement and the subsequent ceding and hand over of Bakassi was not domesticated by the National Assembly as provided in the Constitution”, he stressed.
Responding, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties and Agreements, Hon Yacob Bush Alebiosu, said they were in the state on a fact finding mission following the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun.
Alebiosu disclosed that their visit was prompted by several reports which the committee had received on the Green Tree Agreement between Nigeria and Cameroun.
He said it would afford the committee the opportunity to have firsthand information before making its remarks and recommendation to the House.
Alebiosu appealed for peace and assured that there was still light at the end of the tunnel as the committee would not stop working but would pursue the matter vigorously to ensure that the ceded Bakassi territory is reclaimed.
He said, “I appeal for peace to give us the opportunity to see whether we would let you down or not. My word is my bond and I believe I speak on behalf of the committee as well. We will open up the matter on the floor of the National Assembly and provide evidence of what we have seen because this is something that doesn’t affect the people of Bakassi alone but the entire country.”
It would be recalled that a secessionist group, Bakassi Self Determination Group had also on Thursday set up a radio station and hoisted a flag on Dayspring Island in Bakassi Local Government.
The group said it was determined to reclaim the oil-rich region.
Nigeria handed over Bakassi to Cameroun on August 14, 2008, bringing an end to a long-standing dispute over the territory.
The handover ceremony was moved from the peninsula's main town to Calabar in Nigeria amid security concerns.
The ICJ ruling was based on an early 20th century colonial agreement between Britain and Germany.
Nigeria challenged the ruling, but finally agreed to relinquish the territory in 2006.
"The gains made in adhering to the rule of law may outweigh the painful losses of ancestral homes," said the head of the Nigerian delegation at the ceremony and then Attorney General of the Federation, Mike Aondoakaa at the handover ceremony.
About 90 per cent of the area's population, estimated at up to 300,000, is made up of Nigerian fishermen.
About 30,000 of the residents have moved out to an area in Cross Rivers State set aside for them, but it has no access to the sea, campaigners say.
Compass Newspaper
