Cameroun gendarmes’ harassment of Nigerians persists in Cross River State

[TGD]

The Cross River State Border Communities Development Commission has lamented that cross-border conflicts and activities causing the exploitation of Nigerians by Camerounian gendarmes still persist in some land-locked communities across the state.

It has also disclosed that over 70,000 persons are living in several locations across the state as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), owing to varying shades of intra-and inter village clashes as well as those involving villages in the state and their counterparts in neighbouring states.

Sixteen of the 18 local councils in the state are border local governments, with 350 communities in between them. And the commission created by Law Number Five of 2008, was to, among other things, present fully mainstreamed border communities with equal opportunities, privileges and responsibilities with the rest of the state.

Other than serving as an intervention agency, the commission also collaborates with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) as well as liaise with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in situation involving loss of lives and property.

Making the disclosure in Calabar, the state capital during a ministerial press briefing, the Director General of the commission, Mr. Leo Aggrey, said there were still pockets of flashpoints where Camerounian gendarmes were still exploiting Nigerians for no just cause.

According to him, in these areas, "The boundary lines have not been fully delineated. In fact, they are still being delineated. We have these problems in areas like Danare. We also have it in Okwango and certain areas beyond there in Boki Local Government, where we are still having problems of cross-border conflicts and activities causing exploitations of Nigerians by the Cameroun gendarmes".

He continued: " There have been inter-state and international boundary disputes particularly along the land-locked eastern boundary line with the Republic of Cameroun, where we have Akamkpa, Etung, Boki and Obanliku local government areas."

He lamented that whatever efforts they put up so as to afford the discharge of their mandate to people in these areas were hampered by the fact that "the entire eastern border with Cameroun, do not have communication connectivity to any Nigerian telecommunication network for information dissemination at needy times."

Also commenting on the rising number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state, Aggrey said: "In Cross River we have a good number of Internally Displaced Persons arising from inter-village clashes within the state and those involving communities from neighbouring states as well as those displaced by the World Court judgment, which ceded Bakassi to the Republic of Cameroun. From Ikot Offiong Ebiti in Odukpani Local Government Area, arising from the clash with an Akwa Ibom community in 2000, we have them. From Biase, Obubra, Yala, Abi and Bakassi council areas they are there.

"It is difficult to get the accurate number of IDPs because they are not all living in a single location, but scattered across the state. For instance, some of those displaced from the Bakassi flank are not living only in Ikang where we planned for them, they are living up to Akamkpa and Odukpani council areas. But our estimate shows that we have over 70,000 IDPs across the state. That is about the figure that we have submitted to the National Commission for Refugees for assistance."

On the persistent claim that the issue of Bakassi resettlement has not been expertly handled, he said: "Bakassi is a border commission liability, state government liability, federal government's liability and that of the United Nations and they are benefitting from these four facets. Before they were relocated to Nigeria, we had built classroom blocks, given them three speed boats, insecticide treated bed nets, two boreholes. We also collaborated with the National Boundary Communities Development Agency and three projects were brought there. But the problem we have faced there is that Bakassi is polarised. There are two camps currently operating in Bakassi. When it comes to locating of projects, one camp would say bring it here and the other would say no."



Source: Cameroun gendarmes' harassment of Nigerians persists in  C'River