Reps urge federal government to report Cameroun to UN, AU over Bakassi

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution pushing for a formal complaint to be laid by the federal government to the United Nations and the African Union against the alleged ill-treatment of Nigerians in Bakassi by Camerounian authorities. The alleged maltreatment comes about a year after the peninsula was ceded to Cameroun.

The lawmakers concluded that the government of Cameroun allowed its security forces to abuse Nigerians living in the territory, thereby "blatantly" disrespecting the terms of the Green Tree Treaty which gave protection to the Nigerians, although Cameroun won the sovereignty of the area.

The treaty which was signed on June 12, 2006 in New York, United States, granted protection to the Nigerian fishing and trading population who wished to remain in the controversial territory after the hand-over of the area on August 14, 2008.

Part of the treaty read by Beni Lar, the Chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, who sponsored the motion, said the government of Cameroun has a mandate to shield the Nigerians from any form of brutalisation and abuse which has reportedly hightened in the past few weeks.

More than 700 returnees are currently camped at Ikang, Cross River State, after they fled harassment in the peninsula. Many said they left behind their belongings and even relatives, and could not ascertain whether they are still alive.

Unfair treatment

The returnees narrated how they were victimised, abused and some even killed by the Camerounian gendarmes.

NEXT had reported on November 10 that some of the over 400 Nigerians camped at Ikang camp, New Bakassi Local Council, were still searching for their family members, with the hope of finding them fading by each passing day. "Many of these people are now living as refugees in Cross River State," Ms. Lar said.

The House said the federal government should formally report Cameroun's refusal to obey the treaty to the UN and the AU, and also insist that its government abide by the provisions of the Green Tree agreement. It also asked that funds be released immediately to the National Emergency Management Agency for the resettlement of the returnees, while the Foreign Affairs Ministry should summon the Camerounian Ambassador to Nigeria.

After a prolonged rancour between the two West African neighbours over the ownership of the territory, sometimes resulting in armed confrontation,

the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands, ruled that the sovereignty of the oil-rich region belongs to Cameroun.

The decision of the former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to accept the ruling and the subsequent ceding of the area in August 2008, was seen by the indigenes of the coastal region, as a betrayal.

The re-settlement process to the upland new Bakassi, near Akamkpa, in Cross River state, has also been criticised as not being well funded by government.

"Nigeria disappointed us"

The feeling of betrayal remains today about 15 months after the transfer. "Nigeria has disappointed Cross River in so many occasions," said Bassey Otu, the member representing Bakassi, Odukpani and parts of Calabar in the House of Representatives. "These people were moved out of their homes without being offered the opportunity to say where they want to remain as is obtainable elsewhere," Mr. Otu said.

"Today, this country and the international community that took that decision, cannot come to the rescue of the same people." A member who was also present in the House during the last administration, Abdul Ningi, said he has lived with the guilt of being a member of the National Assembly when the painful transfer was made and the legislature did nothing to stop it.