Withdraw Troops From Bakassi Peninsula, Group Tells FG …Seeks Amnesty For Militants

A group under the
aegis of Association of Bakassi Aborigines (ABA) has urged the Federal Government to immediately withdraw troops from the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula, which was ceded to Republic of Cameroon some years ago.
According to ABA, the call became necessary in view of the intimidation and harassment of the displaced people by soldiers drafted to the area by the Federal Government.
Briefing journalists in Calabar, at the weekend, the National President of the association, Comrade Maurice Bassey Asuquo, charged the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban ki-Moon and the international community to put pressure on the Federal Government to, without further delay, conduct a plebiscite or referendum for the displaced people of Bakassi to decide their future.
According to Asuquo, the plebiscite will enable the displaced people of Bakassi determine the country of their choice between Nigeria and Cameroon.
He said, “we call on the UN Secretary General and the Federal Government to create room for a plebiscite so as to enable us vote on where we want to belong.
“We agree that there was a plebiscite of 1961 but then, such a plebiscite is long outdated because even after the plebiscite, the territory continued to be part of Nigeria with no complaint, until about 1997 when Cameroon went to court,” he lamented.
The president maintained that the Federal Government has the right to protect lives and property of residents of the area, adding that the drafting of troops can only be done when there is agitation and violence.
He stressed that the constant presence of the military in the area was making lives unbearable for the residents.
“We call for the granting of amnesty to misguided youth who have been forced to take up arms. There’s no problem that cannot be solved through the use of dialogue, even though these youth have been misled to illegally carry arms,” he said.
The Aborigines urged the Federal Government to, without further delay, initiate dialogue to enable the parties discuss on how to promote and facilitate speedy remediation of the already volatile military build-up in the peninsula.
Speaking on the topic, “Unnecessary Military Build-Up and Occupation of New Bakassi Lands and Intimidation of Displaced People of Bakassi”, the Legal Adviser to the association, Barrister Etta Okpa of the Kanu Agabi Chambers, averred that dialogue was the only panacea for resolving the challenges of security and peace in the area.
Etta criticised the Nigerian military for taking undue advantage of the situation instead of exploring dialogue to promote peace and security.
Recently, soldiers from the 13 Amphibious Brigade invaded communities and camps in the New Bakassi settlements which are not at war with Nigeria”, stressing that “we vehemently condemn this new wave of state-sponsored violence against the displaced, innocent and law-abiding people of Bakassi.”
Lamenting the military’s unnecessary high-handedness against the people, he said that the attitude of the military goes a long way to show the crass hypocrisy and rot which had bedeviled the Nigerian state over the years.
While urging the militants in Bakassi to sheathe their swords and embrace dialogue, the group urged the Federal Government to grant amnesty to the Bakassi Strike Force.
Etta averred that it is by so doing that the Federal Government can gain more grounds to recover the Bakassi land ceded to Cameroon, and placed under foreign control, stressing that this approach will speedily douse tension in the region.
The group lamented how funds meant for resettlement programmes initiated by the Federal Government some years ago was being sabotaged and abysmally diverted into private pockets by corrupt and powerful individuals.