Ernest Chinwo
22 June 2008
Lagos — Barely two months to the August 18, 2008 date for Nigeria's pull out from the remaining parts of Bakassi Peninsula, is the stage set for another showdown between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon following reprisals from the gendarmes after recent clashes with suspected militants in the area.
Already more than 25 Nigerians have been reportedly killed while more than 300 are reported by their compatriots to be missing since Monday when the fresh fracas started. They are yet to be found. The casualty figures keep rising as the Cameroonian gendarmes and military have sealed off the Peninsula, preventing the males from escaping.
The crisis has also thrown up more than 2,500 refugees, mostly women and children who managed to escape to Ikang Central in the New Bakassi Local Government area in Cross River State. A four-year old boy, Endurance Clement has also died at the Camp.
Cameroonian Armed Forces have also condoned off the northern axis of the Peninsula already handed over by Nigeria on August 14, 2006 and stationed military gunboats in the area less than 12 miles to Ikang. The build-up may not be unconnected with the reported abduction and killing on Monday of a Cameroonian Divisional Officer, Felix Morfan and other members of a Cameroonian patrol team by suspected Nigerian militants. It was a tale of woes at the refugees camp set up at Government Primary School, Ikang Central as the refugees recounted their ordeal in the hands of the Cameroonians.
The people said more than 300 Nigerians, mostly men, are still missing while thousands of others are trapped in Archibong, Akwa, Ineunya, Amomoto, Mission Field, Nyam-Nsung and other villages in the northern axis of the Peninsula condoned off by the Cameroonian authorities. Mr. Godwin Edet Bassey said he escaped Tuesday night from Archibong Town through a bush path to the sea because the gendarmes had blocked all exit points in the village.
He told THISDAY that he witnessed the Monday clash between the gendarmes and the militants.
Giving an insight to what may be responsible for the new wave of attacks on Nigerians, Bassey said, the Divisional Officer (D.O.), Morfan, and other officers had raided a suspected hide-out of militants in the area, but did not meet anybody in the place except empty bottles of soft drinks and left-over food. He said the DO and the patrol team however met the militants on their way back and on confronting the militants, a man he gave his name simply as "Colonel" brought out his pistol to shoot the militants.
Enraged by the action, the militants reportedly sunk the patrol boat and killed five of the officers including the DO and "Colonel" while two others escaped into the village. Bassey said the militants used an engine saw to cut the dead body of the DO to bits which they packed into a sack and sped off with.
He said following the incident, the gendarmes sealed off the area and deployed several military boats into the vicinity with their soldiers coming from all parts of the Peninsula and South-western Cameroon. Mrs. Suoyo John, 50 years old and mother of eight children, said they had to flee Nkan Ekure Fishing Camp Monday night because of fears of reprisal on the camp by the gendarmes following the clash with the militants.
She said the Camerounians did not allow the youths and the men to leave the settlement as they were seen to be part of the militants that attacked the patrol team. She told journalists that she did not know the whereabouts of her four sons who were out fishing in the high seas before the incident. Suoyo, an Ijaw, said she did not know any other place to call home as she had spent her entire adult life in the area and wondered why the Cameroonians were suddenly hostile to them. Mr. Ita Udo Inyang, who said he is about 80 years, also told THISDAY that he had to flee Ineunya Fishing Camp for fear of the gendarmes whom he said had started harassing the villagers.
Another returnee, Mr. Bassey Nyong, 32 years, said they were in dire need of help at the Camp by government and individuals. According to him, "we would still have been in Bakassi, because the time given by the United Nations for us to vacate the place has not expired, but we had to run from Bakassi because of the attitude of the gendarmes.
"At Isangsele Fishing Port in Bakassi, Camerounians gendarmes started shooting at us. Many of us could not get home before coming. We had to run from the fishing port, board a boat to Nigeria. About five Nigerians were killed from gun shot wounds." For Mr. Ebirem Brown, the condition of the returnees is pathetic. "I am originally from Rivers State, but my forefathers have been living in Bakassi. Some of them were buried there," he said.
Asked if he could locate his place in Rivers State, he said, "Yes, but only the old people in my family will recognise me. The young ones won't know me." Brown who is in his sixties said he had two wives and six children, adding that "Cameroonians have been fighting Nigerian civilians at Lemek fishing Port, Okomiti fishing Port and at Nkam Ekure in Bakassi. They were burning huts. The gendarmes came in gun boats. As we are talking, Nigerians are still escaping. Some escaped without their children".
Another returnee, Mr. Etim Ekonomen, who has been appointed Camp Coordinator, also confirmed that they had to rush out of the Peninsula because it became dangerous to remain there as a Nigerian. According to him, "ever since the Nigerian Army vacated Bakassi, the Cameroonian Gendarmes have been killing our people. They would kidnap some of our people and we won't know what happened until, perhaps, you are fishing and you find a corpse.
Charles Fred Ayasan also said that as they were fleeing the Peninsula, two of the boats in which they were traveling capsized and 15 persons died in the sea. Ayasan, who said he is a teacher in the embattled area, confirmed the horrors expressed by his compatriots, adding that most of the refugees are Ijaw. The headmaster of the School which now serves as the Refugee Camp, Pastor Evogor Ememg said he had to release his school for the camp when Senator Florence Ita-Giwa approached him for the purpose considering the enormity of the situation.
He disclosed that Ita-Giwa has been responsible for the feeding of the refugees since Monday night when they started arriving. Ememg said when he discovered there many children of school age among the returnees; he had to admit 210 of them to join other pupils in the school so that their studies would not be disrupted. He however expressed fears that with the increasing number of refugees, the school might not be able to cope with the situation and therefore called on federal agencies to quickly come to the aid of the people.
Chairman of the Bakassi Resettlement Committee, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa described the situation as pathetic and unexpected. She said she was informed that the Cameroonians had sealed of the area and would not let any males leave the peninsula and that was the reason why it's mostly women and children could escape to the refugee camp.
"So now only women and children came out. In fact, I have some children that came out without both parents. And a woman actually, right there at the beach side, went into labour and had a baby there," she said.
She said the Resettlement Committee was planning towards the August 18, 2008 pull-out date, but did not foresee a refugee situation. "We are waiting for August. Really I was not preparing for this because I did not foresee a refugee situation because I believe the relationship between the two countries has been cordial," she said.
She however said her committee would do all within its powers to ensure that the returnees were properly catered for and resettled, adding that steps were already on to build more make-shift accommodation for the returnees.
The Executive Secretary of Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Vincent Aqua described the situation as pathetic, adding that the agency was arranging immediate relief materials like food, mats, mattresses, blankets and health care facilities for the people. He however said there was need to build more makeshift accommodation in the camp to take care of the refugees who returned from 16 fishing camps mostly in the Northern axis of the Peninsula.
Aqua also said SEMA has assessed the situation and informed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for intervention. Officials of the NEMA on Friday visited the camp, inspected facilities there and at the new Resettlement Village being built for the people before the August 18 handover date of the Southern axis of the Peninsula. The leader of the NEMA team and Zonal Coordinator, South-South of the agency, Mr. Martin Osuwah told THISDAY that the problem of the returnees from Bakassi was not new, but described the current situation as pathetic.
"It is a pathetic situation but we are still handling it. We thank the Local Government and SEMA that they did what was expected of them under the circumstance. By the time NEMA items arrive, we will complement what they have done," he said. He said the fate of the people is a national problem and that Federal Government is doing everything possible to alleviate the sufferings of the people.
He noted that accommodation was still a major problem and said he hoped that in future the country would have emergency camps around the country to handle such situations. A worried Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, Thursday paid an unscheduled visit to the camp and pledged the government's commitment to bring succour to the returnees. He called on the Federal Government through NEMA to assist the state in tackling the problems encountered by the people.
While commending the Bakassi Local Government Council for attending promptly to the refugees who have been camped there for the past four days following, the governor advised the council to liaise with the State Emergency management Agency (SEMA) to ensure effective distribution of relief materials. Imoke said there was need to relocate them to a more accommodating environment because where they are being quartered is a primary school and that school will resume on Monday when teachers call off their strike. He explained that a better and conducive environment was imperative because most of the women amongst them are nursing mothers while very few have put to bed since arrival.
He called on the Chairman of Bakassi Local Government Area, Mr. Saviour Nyong to get a data of all the refugees and their state of origin with the view of authenticating those amongst them that are refugees by status while assuring them of protection from outsiders. Also reacting to the situation, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, who represents the Southern Senatorial Zone of the State including Bakassi, described the situation as "extremely unfortunate."
"I have been trying to make the National Assembly, especially the Senate, to come and see things for themselves. Unless we are very careful, I think the Government of Nigeria is putting in place a recipe for crisis that will haunt us for years to come with the way we are handling the Bakassi problem," he said.
But while the Senate is yet to visit the area, the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, led by its acting Chairman, Hon. Nasiru Sule Garo on Friday visited the Camp. After inspecting the camp, Garo who represents Gwarzo/Kabo Federal Constituency of Kano state told THISDAY that the "situation is very touchy. However, the Government is doing all it can to reduce their suffering."
According to him, "the camp is not very conducive but we have seen a better place where the SEMA officials took us to. It is a better environment which they are clearing for them to be relocated to." He said his Committee was told that it would take about one week for the new camp to be ready, adding that he was satisfied with the map of the new site where the returnees will be moved to.
Asked about the reality of the August 18 pull-out date, Garo said "I think the Federal Government is doing all that is necessary to keep to the Green Tree Agreement. However, while the issue of returnee's rages there are increasing fears that the August 18 pull-out date may still have many hiccups as people in the southern axis to be handed over are poised not to let go of their land.
There are indications that the people of the Southern parts of Bakassi, especially Abana and Atabong are bent on resisting the ceding of their territory due to what they blamed on the inability of the Federal Government to properly relocate and resettle their kith and kins from the northern part.
Although the method they intend to adopt in their planned resistance are not yet known, THISDAY gathered that as at last Thursday, the people from the Southern axis had concluded plans to storm the northern axis to rescue those held captive by the security forces of Cameroon. Former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Bakassi Local Government Council, Mr. Effiong Edet Effiong disclosed the peoples grouse.
"You ceded people without making arrangements for them to be relocated and probably resettled. That is why the people from the Southern axis are on a daily basis saying that Abana and Atabong will not be ceded to anybody. On the strength of this, our people in the Southern axis are fully prepared. Even when the last United Nations Team visited last month on the 12th, our people had to chase them away. And they saw it," he said.
According to him, "You are talking of ceding but there is no adequate preparation for the people to be adequately relocated and resettled. This is why some of us even went to the Federal High Court in Abuja and Calabar. "On the strength of this the people of the southern axis where we have a population of about 100,000 said they will not go to anywhere and their land will not be ceded.
"They must give us a location of choice and we must be a local government of our own. We are not going to join with anybody. Give us our local government with our ten wards, with our 323 villages intact. We want to be alone. It is as simple as that.
"There is another dimension to this. Prince Bola Ajibola who is the head of the Nigerian team in the mixed commission went to the speaker of the House of Representatives and told him that Nigeria decided to cede because of the interest of the country put at $300 billion worth of oil. The papers published it and we have copies of the paper. So you are now ceding human beings because of oil." Effiong said.
With more returnees pouring into the camp and the casualties mounting, and given the underground opposition to the August 18 pull-out date, the stage may be set for another serious round of confrontation in the oil-rich Peninsula.
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