War: Cameroonian government dares Nigeria, takes over Nigerian communities
– 350 oil wells and fishing pots seized by the Cameroonians
– Indigene explains how their leaders are being coerced into accepting ‘village head’ titles for the secession
File photo of Cameroonian troops.
In a show of sheer insurrection, the Cameroonian government has reportedly taken over some Nigerian communities in Akwa Ibom state.
According to The Punch, the parts of Akwa Ibom State taken over, were not covered by the original judgment to cede part of the Bakasi Peninsular to the Central African country following a decision of the International Court of Justice (ICC) in The Hague in 2002.
Reports say over 350 oil wells and fishing pots were seized as Nigeria continues to lose potential revenues from these assets.
The people of Effiat clan in Mbo local government area of the state, which is presently being affected by the forceful eviction, claim that the Cameroon government have used documents acknowledging their headship to lure their village heads into accepting Cameroonian citizenship, in a desperate attempt to cede their communities.
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The West African neighbours of Nigeria which had kept claiming parts of the country, were also reported to have operated through some greedy village heads whenever the people resisted paying tax to their government.
An indigene of Effiat, who was identified as Etim Okon, said that he suspects that the documents issued by the Cameroon authorities are fake, explaining that this gimmick being employed to get the people’s consent to present the territory as a border demarcation between Nigeria and Cameroon is ongoing.
Okon explained also, that the Cameroonian gendarmes have taken absolute control of the Akwa Ibom territories which were never part of the islands that Nigeria ceded to their neighbours.
He said: “None of the Effiat 16 villages had been ceded to Cameroon when Bakassi Peninsula was ceded to Cameroon by the International Court of Justice at the Hague in 2002.
“Effiat is an area in Akwa Ibom State and not part of Cross River, where Bakassi Peninsula became an issue.”
The mangrove island which hosts 16 villages of Effiat clan in Mbo, it was gathered, is being managed by the Cameroon authorities.
This new development is sure to breed bad blood between both countries, especially because they had formed allied forces to wrestle insurgency which has ravaged their coasts in recent years.
Akwanga supposes that human right violations of secessionist mobvements in Southern Cameroons are the same.
The man, who is now the president of the Southern Cameroons Youth League, was imprisoned and tortured in 1977 in Cameroon for six years due to his political activism.
The activist believes his people might collaborate with pro-Biafrans in south-eastern Nigeria, who are also willing to become independent.
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