CAMEROUN REPELS NIGERIAN MILITANTS

Cameroon’s security forces beat back an attack by pirates in waters off the Bakassi peninsula bordering Nigeria at the weekend, sinking one of their speedboats, the defence ministry said on Sunday.
An armed group that says it is fighting for compensation for Nigerian settlers of Bakassi forced to leave the peninsula when it was handed back to Cameroon in August, said its fighters were involved in Saturday’s clash near Jabane.
Africa’s top oil producer Nigeria formally handed over control of Bakassi to Cameroon in line with a 2002 International Court of Justice (ICJ) order. The peninsula is reported to have significant untapped oil reserves.
The little-known Niger Delta Defence and Security Council (NDDSC), which has claimed previous attacks this year on Cameroonian soldiers in Bakassi, denied the defence ministry’s assertion that one of its boats was sunk in the gunfight.
“None of our boys was hurt, all our boats returned safely to base,” NDDSC commander Ebi Dari told Reuters. He said the Cameroonian soldiers had opened fire first on the group.
Cameroon’s defence ministry said no casualties were reported on the Cameroon army side.
About 50 people have been killed in violence in Bakassi in the past year, including attacks on Cameroonian soldiers.
SOURCED FROM REUTERS

STOKING A WILD-FIRE

Its isn’t yet one week since the final hand-over ceremony of the bakassi peninsular from Nigeria to Cameroun took place and the stories emanating from the ceded region can best be described as unpalatable. On Saturday there were reports that several bakassians had fled the beleaguered community following growing tension between Cameroun gendarmes and militants from the Niger-delta. The Cameroonian gendarmes’ aggression was always a factor to contend with when several days to the hand-over, stern looking Cameroonian security forces sealed up the peninsula’s entry point only allowing departures. More worrisome were reports of a number of unprovoked shootings by some reckless gendarmes, but It isn’t that I did not expect sooner or later there’ll be unrest but then to imagine that Nigeria and Cameroun according to the dictates of the greentree agreement would be jointly cooperating in the administration of the peninsular for five years and there’s already a spanner in the works less than a week gone leaves my stomach churning

I remember that Nigeria’s attorney general and minister of justice, Michael Aandokaa immediately after the august event had warned Cameroonian authorities against intimidating Nigerians residing in the disputed peninsular. Except he was speaking with his tongue in his cheeks it meant that Camerounian authorities are to ensure that the rights of the inhabitants aren’t breached, this I believe could be the genesis of a long term crisis if not properly handled. Now is definitely the right time for nigeria to react. Each time there’s been a raid by the gendarmes the results have been same; the displacement of hundreds of bakassians from their settlements.

Last week’s hand-over ceremony played out without any incidents beside empty threats from roguish militants of the Niger Delta to disrupt the event. The fine point of the green tree agreement had been in the protection of their sources of livelihood and accomodations. This perhaps was the government’s palliative to the bakassians having failed to give them a proper opportunity through a plebiscite. The Nigerian government must walk the talk if it intends regaining the confidence of the several thousand bakassians. Through every diplomatic means available it must ensure that Cameroun abides by the greentree agreement, for the issue on ground transcends natural resource rather is ingrained in the deep ethos of national pride and ancient culture

EMMAFEMI , CONNECT AFRICA.

 

BAKASSI’S SWAN SONG

Several newspapers had captured the feelings of Nigerians and most especially bakassi indigenes before the final handing over of the disputed peninsular to cameroun just hours before the event began one had read ’ bye-bye bakassi’ and another ‘going going gone’and so on and so forth. A week before D-day, indigenes of the peninsular had complained of the high handedness of the Cameroonian gendarmes; there were unconfirmed reports of trigger happy gendarmes firing at defenceless civilians perhaps in a bid to drive fear into hearts of defiant bakassians who had pledged to disrupt the final handing over ceremony.

The fear of the unknown perhaps is what drove the organizers of the handing-over ceremony to calabar rather than bakassi for the handing over rites. Forget the banal post war rhetoric of ‘no victor no vanquished’ by Nigeria’s former president olusegun Obasanjo after he had signed the green tree agreement with Cameroonian leader paul biya. The air of melancholy hung heavy in the air at the venue as a visibly tired attorney general of Nigeria, Michael aandokaa backed away from the scrutinizing lenses of several the media hawks to sign the document of relinquishment. Fortunately for Nigeria the entire show lasted for 58 minutes and at the end of the day the only ones who had smiles on their faces where the officials of the international criminal of justice and the Cameroonian authorities. A stern looking Nigerian minister of justice later emerged from the venue warning Cameroonian authorities to abide by the provisions of the green tree agreement. The indigenes of bakassi may just hope to God that nothing awry happens otherwise their guinea-pig role -playing; apologies to Florence ita-giwa- the most famous bakassian till date- may linger longer than expected.

According to the federal government of Nigeria, less than 30% of resettlement work has been achieved and the Nigeria media is rife with stories about inadequate drugs, housing and food for the displaced bakassians. Their clarion call has suddenly become ‘take us back home’. In all honesty their voices have been silenced long before August 15, 2008, before the 2006 green tree agreement in New York and definitely longer than the ICJ’s ruling in2002 when they were denied the opportunity of a plebiscite or referendum by the Nigerian government to decide their future.

There are indeed genuine fears whether Cameroun can play its part in this landmark development. A Nigerian, George okon, who lives at a temporary shelter erected by the cross river state government at ikong, accused the camerounian gendarmes of looting, raping and killing Nigerians in the peninsula.

As a Nigerian I am indeed saddened not because of the loss of another potential revenue earner but that several people have suddenly been disinherited, and without a natural root they have suddenly become aliens in their own land with perhaps a new language, culture and profession.

Yes for Nigeria, it is undoubtedly a painful moment but then there have been some gains; for once every Nigerian stood up to be counted as a bakassian, upset and angry not over the loss of some natural resource but rather in the loss of a fellow country man’s homeland.

Finally I implore the federal government to ensure the speedy release of the budgeted one billion naira for the recreation of a new local government for the bakassians and maybe this would be the first step towards the much awaited healing process and regaining their identity.

EMMAFEMI CONNECTAFRICA.

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