[b][center]Yester'night  we are together

in the moon

listening to lullaby

young kids, full of life

and many dreams to achieve

but in our slumber

we could see them enter

cartted away

our own brothers
in the dream

we cry out louder

but grandfather insist we let them be

, in our presence

they milked them dry

, the land was raped

and their mouth tapped

our own brothers

will now become strangers

i pray it will only be a dream

but tell me, where is BAKASSI?

,

The issue of BAKASSI is not a joke, it is something that  has kept me worried for some weeks now with lots of questions , WHO IS TO BE BLAME?, IS THERE ANY SHORT CUT?, CAN'T WE HOLD ON TO IT?, WHY?, AND MOST OF ALL, THE ULTIMATE QUESTION, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE A RESIDENT OF BAKKASSI,NOW YOU ARE A NIGERIAN BUT WHAT IF  YOU WAKE UP TOMORROW AND YOU DISCOVER YOU ARE NO LONGER A NIGERIAN BUT A CAMEROUNIAN!!! AND WILL HENCEFORTH NEED A VISA TO VISIT YOUR RELATIONS IN THE NEXT TOWN!!! AS WEIRD AS THIS MIGHT SOUND, BELIEVE ME THIS IS THE EXACT SITUATION MORE THAN A MILLION NIGERIANS WILL FIND THEMSELFS TOMORROW  14TH DAY OF AUGUST 2008,WHEN NIGERIAN WILL BE HANDING OVER BAKASSI TO CAMEROUN ON A PLATTER OF GOLD!!! YET OUR GRANDFATHERS KEEP MUTE AND SEE NO REASON WHY THEY NEED TO APOLOGISE FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND DECISIONS TO SELL A PART OF NIGERIA  INCLUDING FELLOW NIGERIANS OFF TO THE FRANCOPHONE COUNTRY!!! NOW THE FRENCH WILL REJOICE AS THEY WILL DOMINATE CAMEROUN AND TAP UNLIMITED CRUDE OIL IN BAKASSI , ONLY GOD KNOW WHERE OUR GRANDFATHERS WILL SELL NEXT, MAYBE LAGOS BUT I AM SURE IS NOT ABUJA!!!!'

[/center] [/b]

this Bakassi problem is so confusing.

besides, wasnt there a handing over last year or the year before that?

There are a million Nigerians in the bakassi region?

What is Senator Florence Ita Giwa doing to call attention to their plight? Isnt she from that area?

Gowon, western and northern Nigeria.
In an atrocious and wicked move to starve the eastern children to death, they sold off our brothers and their oil.

My heart goes out to the Bakassi indigenes.

Am rele confused on this bakassi issue?
Is it rele part of the Nigerian geographical map?

Am rele confused on this bakassi issue?
Is it rele part of the Nigerian geographical map?

territory does not need to be part of your MAP.

Falkland is in Argentina yet it belongs to UK

Ceutal is in Morroco yet belong to Spain

Polynesia is in Pacific yet belong to France.

landis you know all things

who will save us from this evil and wicked leadership in Nigeria!,with a decision like this,I still don't see any hope.

why cant nigeria annex bakassi, togo, benin etc like the uk did with falkland etc

why can't nigeria annex bakassi, togo, benin etc like the uk did with falkland etc

Because:

1. we hate ourselves as BLACKMAN.

2. we dont understand the WORLD is still survival of the fittest.

3. we live only for 2days while rest of the world live for 50yrs.

4. we are dumb-ass and will believe anything.

The issue of Bakassi has been over flogged to say the least, however, the sad fact is that it has been ceded to the Cameroonians. Fine, if blames are to be apportioned, on whose feet should the blame fall on? Is it the colonial masters who balkanized Africa to suit their imperialist and exploitative ambitions? Is the successive leadership of the nation who have disregarded the terms of Nigeria's federalism? Is it the lawmakers who have capitulated on their roles as mediators between the state and the governed? Is it the individual who out of selfishness sold out his people for a personal ambition? Is it that one who had his hands tied by the dynamics of the mafioso covertly expropriating the resources of the nation? Is it you and I who have consistently looked the other way when an injustice is being perpetrated on a citizen right before our eyes? Is it the Cameroonians who have identified the strategic resources obtained in the peninsula and have applied all means, diplomatic, military to finally have their wish?

If it is the apportioning of blames, then we are all to blame and no one should extricate himself from this anomaly that the Nigerian state has voluntarily subscribed to. Southern Cameroon was at some point a part of Nigeria, but there was a referendum held to determine their future status, why was the same not done in the case of Bakassi?

The issue of Bakassi is a failure on the part of every Nigerian, and this should sound as a wake up call. The national interest should not be the interest of certain individuals under the toga of leadership and state, rather the national interest should be the interest of the generality of the Nigerian people. Until when Nigerians begins to take the issue of citizen rights as priority, until we begin to insist on our rights as citizens (not as individuals but collectively in unison) only then can we claim our due as part and parcel of this 'state contract' called Nigeria.

If we allow this present situation to continue, if we continue to let the thieving politicians dictate the trajectory of our domestic and international policies, I predict a future incidence that would make Bakassi pale into insignificance. It is time for genuine Nigerians to be in charge of Nigeria's affairs. We must do away with the politicians, come together as one people, irrespective of tribe, religion and other divisive factors which they have applied over the years to balkanize our ranks. A people united can never fail. Alone, one can do nothing, but together all can achieve anything.

To my brothers and sisters in Bakassi, an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. As long as you have been compelled to swallow this injustice, be rest assured, one day justice shall be done. Na only time e go take. . .

You don't need to ask, whose fault it was. We knew whose fault it was, Gowon started the train with Ahmadu Ahidjo and Obasanjo and Yar Adua finished it with Paul Biya. Those that started it did it to punish Biafra quest.
Where are the likes of Enahoro, Ken Saro Wiwa and Edwin Clarke and all those from the present South-South region that were fed with poison chalice to oppose Biafra with all their might? The tragedy of Bakassi in 2008 is a fall out of Biafra of 1967-1970. Biafra will never had handed over Bakassi to anybody, even if the heavens fall. Those foreigners like Gowon, Obasanjo or Yar Adua did it without any qualms because Bakassi foreign land to them, will they have handed a northern town or Odua to another nation?

The Efik and the Ibibios are our cousins and it break out heart to see them given away like a bowl of soup to a foreign nation. I am calling all Biafran nationalist to wake up and smell our freedom now especially regarding the 28th of August.
The hand over of Bakassi has strengthen our case because you can't hand over your people desperate to be Nigerians to another nation but opposed Biafran quest at the same time.
They claim to be obeying internationl court decision but forgeting that Biafran question is back by internation law on self determination. The evil that men do will live with them. Where is Edwin Clarke today? He will go to his grave with shame base on what happened today.

First, i will blame Obasanjo, then i will put the final blame on yaradua---- honestly after the sad event of today i now clearly see the slopiness and "go-slowness" in the character and manner of yaradua's government. honestly i hate him more ; he has always make an outcry for his respect for the rule of law but he chose to disregard an injunction of a federal high court in abuja halting the handover.

Where is even the "aliveness" of our national 'assmebly' (or assembly sha)? honestly i think it has kicked the bucket.

Speaking frankly now , Steve Ayorinde of view point column of today's punch newspaper said and i quote

" where is the whereabout of the so-called millitants at a time like this when a core- component of the supposedly oil - rich region is being ceded to another country?".

Sentiments apart, let's ask ourselves if the government is to be blamed for their attacks on the so -called millitants of the niger delta who claimed they are fighting for their rights or what is stopping them from showing a bit of resisitance at the handing over of our beloved BAKASSI---that's even secondary in the isuue on ground.

The honest truth is that Obasanjo put our treasure on sale and Yaradua completed his (Obasanjo) job by completely selling US off.

The law is an ass--an Idiot.

Who says it's the final arbiter?

too bad it had to end in Cameroon's favor.
still has a lot to do with our weak leadership.

THERE IS NOW THEREFOR CONFUSSION IN THE LAND, THE ISSUE OF BAKASSI PENISULA HAS BRING TO OUR NOTICE THAT RIGHT FROM THE INSEPTION OF THE ENTITY CALLED NIGERIA OUR LEADERS HAS BEEN SELFISH AND SELF CENTERED , THE BAKASSI HANDOVER IS MALICCIOUSE AND STUPIDITY, IS ALL BASED ON TRIBAL NO SOUTH SOUTH LEADER OR SOUTH EAST WILL HANDOVER BAKASSI.
TO HELL WITH GOWON , OBJ AND YARADUA. MEN OF THESAME.

GO TO HELL.OBJ

Any person who contributed to the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun, will rest with Satan in Hell. Leaders of Western and Northern Nigerians sold Bakassi to Cameroun so that they can win Biafra war. As the Children of Bakassi shed tears today, so will their children and their dirty stinking soldiers stationed in N-Delta will soon shed tears.

In war, or desperate situations, man could make erroneous decisions that could back fire later. Bakkasi issue is one of them. The land was traded off for support from Cameroonians, so it was a decision made during desperation. No one should be blamed for that.

My concern is that the resident should be properly relocated so that life can continue well. they will sure lose their lands and some jobs because some professions are dependent on that land but i believe they can still be relocated and re established.

if there was no war, in the first place, there would be no need to trade out the land for help. So if we want to apportion blame, we will go farther back into history than just Gowon giving the land out.

This is not the time for blames, it is time to rescue what is left to be salvaged.

ask former president Gowon

I smell some oil exploration has to do with this.

Please don't think the Nigerian government ceded tha land for nothing. I smell negotiations which are going to make some Cameronians and Nigerians rich on the expense of poor fishermen

Again I smell gas flares

Quote
BELIEVE ME THIS IS THE EXACT SITUATION MORE THAN A MILLION NIGERIANS WILL FIND THEMSELFS TOMORROW 14TH DAY OF AUGUST 2008

@ poster

Point of correction:

About 300 thousand and not more than a million Nigerians

jintujinta:

In war, or desperate situations, man could make erroneous decisions that could back fire later. Bakkasi issue is one of them. The land was traded off for support from Cameroonians, so it was a decision made during desperation. No one should be blamed for that.

Shame on you for making this statemnt.

If America can invade Iraq against UN opposition and spend lots of money on the war and plan to rebuild it "all because of oil", I wonder why Nigeria cannot defend her territory with all their so call military might.  All in the name of International Justice, the same UN court that America disobey to invade Iraq which is not American territory. What a shame to Big Brother of Africa

Any person who contributed to the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun, will rest with Satan in Hell. [size=14pt]Leaders of Western and Northern Nigerians sold Bakassi to Cameroun so that they can win Biafra war.[/size] As the Children of Bakassi shed tears today, so will their children and their dirty stinking soldiers stationed in N-Delta will soon shed tears.

Bakassi was ceded to Cameroun by Northerners to ensure they win the Biafran war, so i don't see how westerners came into this argument. Tribal sentiments should be flayed here because it's more advantageous to learn from our mistakes. Honestly, I wished other factions in the country stood behind Biafra and broke away simultaneously. I actually support you on the issue of soldiers maltreating the NDeltans today, one day we'll also pay dearly for that. Obasanjo too will soon pay for his crimes against ODI.

[size=20pt]Goodbye Bakassi[/size]
Written by Emmanuel Aziken & Inalegwu Shaibu with agency reports
Thursday, August 14, 2008
THE most contentious obstacle to Nigeria’s transfer of the Bakassi Peninsula was removed yesterday, after the Senate gave President Umaru Yar’Adua the go-ahead to proceed with the hand-over.




Not a few Nigerians had drawn the attention of the Federal Government to its failure, up to yesterday, to obtain the approval of the Senate in ceding the Peninsula as required by Section 13 of the 1999 Constitution.


The section says: “No treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.”


Indeed, the endorsement was the reason for the resumption from recess, yesterday, by the Senate.


Just before the Senate gave the green light yesterday, the opposition Action Congress (AC) had issued a statement, asking the Federal Government to defer the handover “if indeed the government believes in its own rule of law and due process mantra.


Explaining the Senate action, following a closed door session, its spokesman, Chief Ayogu Eze, blamed the procedure adopted by the Obasanjo administration for the situation the country now found itself.


He argued that Nigeria could not afford to renege on its international obligations, stressing that the Senate was satisfied with considerations provided for in the Green Tree Agreement on the welfare of displaced persons from the area. He also expressed satisfaction that the agreement had been dressed in a way that would not impede the country’s military interests in the eastern flank.


Senator Eze, all the same, expressed the Senate’s distress at the loss of a part of the country. Nigeria, according to him, is obliged by its commitments to abide by both the ruling of the International Court of Justice and the following Green Tree Agreement.


Senator Eze who also said a fresh draft of the Freedom of Information Bill (FoI) would soon be re-presented to the Senate for consideration, said: “Nigeria is a signatory to the ICJ. Nigeria is a responsible member of the of the international community. Nigeria is an aspiring member of the Security Council. So we have to put all these into a basket.


“We put ourselves in a tight corner. What the President is doing is being careful by making sure that we don’t jeopardise the overall international interest and obligations of Nigeria on account of this unfortunate but avoidable mess in Bakassi.


“But we have already found ourselves there. Nigeria initiated the legal action. We took the matter to the ICJ. If we did not believe in the authority of ICJ, we should not have gone to court in the first place.


“Another view is that, having gone to court, and seen the way it was going, we should have pulled out but we did not do that. We stayed there and the judgement landed on our lap.


“This is a delicate matter and Nigerians should see it as such. There is nobody who is happy that any territory of Nigeria is going away. I know that even when southern Cameroun left, there was a hoopla in the country,” Eze said as he called for caution against entreaties to violence.


Giving the assurances received by the Senate on the issue, he said: “We have already been assured contrary to speculations that that part of Bakassi is not really very heavy with mineral deposit as alleged.”


Besides giving the country’s determination to sustaining the welfare of the citizens of that area, he noted the assurances given on the protection of the country’s military interests in the area.


“The item that consummated the agreement spelt out that on no account should Cameroun constitute an impediment to Nigerian military forces having access or exit from Bakassi into the Nigerian water. That has been the major security issue that was raised and that has been addressed in the Green Tree Agreement,” he said.


AC asks FG to defer Bakassi handover


Earlier yesterday, the Action Congress (AC) asked the Federal Government to defer to a later date the planned handover today of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun “if indeed the government believes in its own rule of law and due process mantra.”


In a statement in Abuja, its National Publicity Secretary of the AC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the delay would give the government time to submit the Green Tree Agreement to the National Assembly for ratification, thereby ensuring that the laws of Nigeria are not breached just to satisfy the international community.


AC said it backed the argument that the handover of the peninsula to Cameroun would be in vain if the Yar’Adua administration failed to seek the ratification, by the National Assembly, of the agreement it signed in New York with Cameroun over the implementation of the 2002 ruling of International Court of Justice (ICJ).


It said Section 12 (I) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was unambiguous: “No treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.”


The party said if the Yar’Adua administration failed to follow the country’s Constitution and went ahead to hand over Bakassi to Cameroun today, it would have broken the country’s laws and set the stage for the enthronement of arbitrariness and expediency over rule of law and due process.


“Even if the government has scoffed at the ruling of Justice Muhammed Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, restraining the FG from handing over the peninsula until the determination of the case brought by Bakassi indigenes, it cannot afford to trash the Nigerian Constitution.


“The temptation to go ahead with the handover, just to win some immediate favours from the international community, especially by an administration that is standing on one foot, is so great. But succumbing to it will bring more pain than joy at the end.


“We, therefore, join well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to appeal to the Yar’Adua administration to do the right thing before handing over Bakassi, in line with the ICJ ruling. Nothing is sacrosanct about August 14 that it cannot be deferred,” AC said.


Handover holds in Abana


Today’s handover is taking place at Abana, former headquarters of Bakassi Local Government.

The choice of Abana, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was made after an intense security meeting on Tuesday between Cross River Government officials and the Presidency.


It was not clear yesterday the exact place in Abana where the event would take place.

Chief Florence Ita-Giwa, Chairman of Bakassi Resettlement Committee, could not confirm the venue on Tuesday but the Secretary to the Cross River State Government, Mr. Fidelis Ugbo, in a statement confirmed Abana as venue of the ceremony.


The statement, issued on Tuesday, explained that the handing over was in keeping with the judgment of the International Court of Justice at The Hague and in line with Nigeria’s desire to maintain its leadership position in Africa.


“It is also for the country to ensure peace and good neighbourliness in the continent and the world,” the statement added.

It said the Federal Government believed in the rule of law and appealed to the displaced people of Bakassi and other ethnic nationalities to remain calm.


“We urge you all to remain calm and cooperate with the federal and state governments to ensure a smooth and memorable handing over ceremony,”said the statement.


It reminded the people that they were known to be peaceful and hospitable and should live up to the rating. The statement also assured Bakassi people of the state government’s desire to integrate all Nigerians in the area into the economy “by providing ample opportunity for those willing to promote enterprise.”


The government also commended traditional rulers, political stalwarts and leaders of thought of Bakassi people for their understanding over the matter.


Ban Ki-moon hails handover


The handover is expected to put an end to a 15-year dispute over the territory believed to contain considerable oil and gas reserves.


Last week, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed Nigeria’s upcoming transfer as “a model for negotiated settlements of border disputes,” saying it would be “a landmark event.”


Nigeria agreed to transfer Bakassi, which juts into the Gulf of Guinea, two years ago but sporadic gun battles and political and legal disagreements have delayed it.


A Cameroun government official said today’s transfer marked “the end of a crisis” that began in December 1993 when the Nigerian army occupied a number of villages on the peninsula.


Cameroun first took its case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in March 1994.

After a drawn-out legal battle, the ICJ ruled in October 2002 that the Bakassi peninsula be given to Cameroun. It based its decision largely on a 1913 treaty between former colonial powers Britain and Germany.


Cameroun and Nigeria then signed an accord, known as the Green Tree Agreement, in New York in June 2006 during US-facilitated mediation talks and in the presence of then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.


This paved the way for Nigeria’s withdrawal from Bakassi, which is expected to be completed in a flag-exchanging ceremony today.


But the handover has been threatened by last-minute legal challenges and a number of deadly attacks.

Last month, a federal court in Abuja granted an injunction preventing the government from handing over Bakassi to Cameroun by its agreed deadline.


Despite the move, President Umaru Yar’Adua insisted Nigeria would not abandon its international obligations.

The peninsula, which is believed to contain considerable oil and gas reserves as well as rich fishing grounds, has also been the scene of violent attacks in recent months.


Approximately 50 people have been killed in recent clashes between Camerounian soldiers and local armed groups opposed to the transfer in the peninsula that spans 1,000 square kilometres.


Last month, the Niger Delta Defence and Security Council (NDDSC) claimed responsibility for an attack at Kombo Ajanea, in which 12 people died, including two Camerounian soldiers.


The armed Nigerian group threatened further violence unless the transfer of Bakassi is renegotiated.

Although the peninsula’s official population size is not known, it is thought most of its inhabitants are Nigerian, while Camerounians make up the majority of the civil servants and military personnel.


A school head in Akwa, a Cameroun locality from where you can see Nigeria, said he welcomed the transfer. “We are looking forward to August 14 with a lot hope,” Bernard Ambeno said.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/14/313.html

its a shame that an average man wld careless for the loss of bakassi, i 4 1 dont give a hoot wit wat happened coz it didnt add any economic value and wdh, is it worth fightin ova?

what facts did the world court base its decision to return Bakassi to Cameroon, on?

I need to look up the history of bakassi.

That Nigerian-Cameroon border to the east has always been a very amorphous one.

Thursday, August 14, 2008 Printer Friendly Version
[size=20pt]
Nigerians should not cry over transfer – Gowon [/size]

By Jude Owuamanam, Jos


As Nigeria gets set to hand over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun on Thursday (today), a former Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, has said that the ceded territory never belonged to Nigeria.




He also denied accusations that he handed Bakassi over to Cameroun because of its support for Nigeria during the Biafran war.

Gowon, who spoke in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, said that the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which gave the ruling ceding the peninsula to Cameroun, was right.

He added that Nigerians living in that part had the choice of living there under Camerounian laws or agreeing to be resettled in Nigeria.

He said the misconception about the ownership of the peninsula arose when Nigeria was administering the western part of Cameroun as part of the United Nations mandate.

Gowon explained that when a plebiscite was undertaken, the people of Western Cameroun decided to go to Cameroun whereas the northern part decided to be in Nigeria.

He recalled that it took the ingenuity of the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, to convince the northern part of Cameroun to be in Nigeria while the Nnamdi Azikiwe-led National Council of Nigeria and the Camerouns (as it then was) did little to convince the western part of Cameroun to to remain part of Nigeria.

The former head of state said that the ICJ in its ruling, took into cognisance, the Anglo/German Treaties of 1885 and 1914, adding that at the dawn of independence, all African countries agreed to abide by the international boundaries agreed by the occupying powers.

Meanwhile, a professor of History of International Relations, University of Lagos, Yomi Akinyeye, said, “The handover is in order. The place called Bakassi never belonged to Nigeria in the first place. The issues and the ownership are so clear.

“We were only misled by so-called experts who were misguided and who deceived us into going to the International Court of Justice. We never stood a chance.

“The documents with which the ICJ reached the inevitable decision are in the public archives, we in Nigeria have them, others have them in their own archives.

“They are based mainly on Anglo-German Treaty of 1913 and at Independence in 1960. It was obvious that other agreements would have to be made but based on the original legal documents signed between the two colonial powers of Germany and Britain.”





http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/14/430.html

[size=20pt]SHOOT ON SIGHT [/size]

, Gendarmes fire at in-coming Nigerian boats, as border remains closed to Nigerians

• Corpses at Ikang Jetty
From JOSSY IDAM, Calabar
Thursday, August 14, 2008

With more than five days to todays handover D-Day for Bakassi, Cameroon authorities slammed its border firmly shut to Nigerian entrants. And it remained so until today.


However, probably to further drive the fear of Cameroon into the spines of Nigerians operating around the disputed territory the gendarmes seem to have an order to shoot on sight any Nigerian who ventured anywhere around the troubled waters of Bakassi. The unwritten article appeared to be that, while Nigerian boats were allowed out of Bakassi, none was allowed to re-enter.

Gendarmes stationed in the Peninsula now had made sure any Nigerian who managed to vacate, did not come back into the territory for anything.

Those who dared, were shot, killed or wounded. A fisherman, Akpan Udoh who escaped from the place, told Daily Sun at Akpabuyo, Cross River State, that Cameroonian soldiers-gendarmes have gone trigger happy. Speaking through an interpreter, the fisherman said the gendarmes are massed at waterfronts, shooting, killing and destroying boats venturing into the peninsula.

Akpan also revealed that unidentified corpses recently washed up at Abana beach, the hitherto administrative headquarter of Bakassi Local Government Area.

As the today’s handover date of the peninsular drew close, Daily Sun learnt the gendarmes had made life unbearable for Nigerians living there. Another returnee who now lives at a temporary shelter erected by Cross River State government at Ikang, George Okon, accused the gendarmes of looting, raping and killing Nigerians in the peninsula at will.

“Not checked by anybody, there’s no Nigerian soldier or police in the area now to protect us. So, the gendarmes treat us like slaves. They take things by force – rape housewives and girls openly. So, no point in my staying there again,” the former school teacher said Tuesday.

A military source told Daily Sun that the gendarmes overkill may not be unconnected with the recent attack on the gendarmes by militants in the area. “It looks like a reprisal attack which has now gone out of control,” the military source said.




http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/14/509.html

Shame onto those that have allowed this to come into existence.I really pity those people there.

DeepZone:

[size=20pt]SHOOT ON SIGHT [/size]

, Gendarmes fire at in-coming Nigerian boats, as border remains closed to Nigerians

• Corpses at Ikang Jetty
From JOSSY IDAM, Calabar
Thursday, August 14, 2008

With more than five days to todays handover D-Day for Bakassi, Cameroon authorities slammed its border firmly shut to Nigerian entrants. And it remained so until today.


However, probably to further drive the fear of Cameroon into the spines of Nigerians operating around the disputed territory the gendarmes seem to have an order to shoot on sight any Nigerian who ventured anywhere around the troubled waters of Bakassi. The unwritten article appeared to be that, while Nigerian boats were allowed out of Bakassi, none was allowed to re-enter.

Gendarmes stationed in the Peninsula now had made sure any Nigerian who managed to vacate, did not come back into the territory for anything.

Those who dared, were shot, killed or wounded. A fisherman, Akpan Udoh who escaped from the place, told Daily Sun at Akpabuyo, Cross River State, that Cameroonian soldiers-gendarmes have gone trigger happy. Speaking through an interpreter, the fisherman said the gendarmes are massed at waterfronts, shooting, killing and destroying boats venturing into the peninsula.

Akpan also revealed that unidentified corpses recently washed up at Abana beach, the hitherto administrative headquarter of Bakassi Local Government Area.

As the today’s handover date of the peninsular drew close, Daily Sun learnt the gendarmes had made life unbearable for Nigerians living there. Another returnee who now lives at a temporary shelter erected by Cross River State government at Ikang, George Okon, accused the gendarmes of looting, raping and killing Nigerians in the peninsula at will.

“Not checked by anybody, there’s no Nigerian soldier or police in the area now to protect us. So, the gendarmes treat us like slaves. They take things by force – rape housewives and girls openly. So, no point in my staying there again,” the former school teacher said Tuesday.

A military source told Daily Sun that the gendarmes overkill may not be unconnected with the recent attack on the gendarmes by militants in the area. “It looks like a reprisal attack which has now gone out of control,” the military source said.




http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/14/509.html

I guess they want to prevent a Niger Delta situation.

i weep fo the people of bakassi. as for senator Eze, all they care about is the oil

DeepZone:

[size=20pt]Goodbye Bakassi[/size]

Giving the assurances received by the Senate on the issue, he said: “We have already been assured contrary to speculations that that part of Bakassi is not really very heavy with mineral deposit as alleged.”
http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/14/313.html

they dont care about the people living there. from what he said, they realised there's no much oil in bakassi, they forgot there are more than 300,000 residing there. shame to our greedy weak stingy stupid inferior leaders. infact i dont want to start cos im boiling right here.
as for Gowon, u're denying, karma will soon catch up with u.

morpheus24:

I smell some oil exploration has to do with this.

Please don't think the Nigerian government ceded tha land for nothing. I smell negotiations which are going to make some Cameronians and Nigerians rich on the expense of poor fishermen

Again I smell gas flares

i support ur comments

kinol:

If America can invade Iraq against UN opposition and spend lots of money on the war and plan to rebuild it "all because of oil", I wonder why Nigeria cannot defend her territory with all their so call military might. All in the name of International Justice, the same UN court that America disobey to invade Iraq which is not American territory. What a shame to Big Brother of Africa

inferiority complex nai dey kill our leaders. u're talkin bout USA, u're going too far. come to africa, u cant try that with Libya, or even Zimbabwe, why are our leaders wicked.

its high time the youths of this country took over the affairs of this country. Im tired or old stinky greedy inferior men that think only about their gain in any decision taken. nigeria 2015, pls all of u should work in hand. i beg u, we want a better nigeria. these old men will soon die after messing up the country, leaving her to our fate. pls we want a better nigeria.
make una no mind the way i dey talk, i dey vex.