Bakassi: ‘Nigerians Still Being Harassed by Camerounians’

Written by Duncan Tuesday, 13 October 2009

The federal government yesterday lodged a formal complaint over the continued harassment of  Nigerians  by Cameroonian Gendarmes.

The complaint was lodged during the meeting of the Nigeria/Cameroon Mixed Commission in Yaoundé, Cameroon by the leader of the Nigerian delegation to the Commission , Prince Bola Ajibola.

Ajibola who was represented by the Director General of the National Boundary Commission , Mallam Saddig Diggi during the 25th session of the commission noted the, “pockets of disaffection and harassment of Nigerians by Cameroonians coming from Bakassi peninsula”.

According to him, “this has given Nigerian government some concern, since the Green Tree Agreement provides for the protection of our affected populations rights”.

He therefore appealed to the International Observer Group to take, “the responsibility of monitoring and reporting the plight of Bakassi people and regularly undertake field visits to all areas within the peninsula”.
On the proposed Pillar Emplacement exercise along Nigeria/Cameroon boundary , Ajibola  appealed to the Cameroonian authorities to, “fully embark upon adequate public enlightenment of their border dwellers that the final beaconing exercise will be to show limits of both countries but not meant to divide the people”.

Commenting on the activities of the commission,  Vice President of Cameroon and leader of delegation, Alhaji Amadou Ali, assured the Nigerian delegation that, “our government will fully facilitate the urgent completion of the remaining 800 kilometers of the boundary”.

The meeting which was also attended by the UN Representative to the Commission, Ambassador Said Djinnit, said the observer group will soon visit Bakassi peninsula to asses the plight of the affected people and report back to the UN.