Bakassi Indigenes Hail Supreme Court Judgement

Indigenes of Bakassi Local Government Area recently gathered at the Orange Resort Hotel, Calabar, to celebrate the Supreme Court judgement that upheld the validity of Law No.7 of Cross River State Laws 2007.
Speaking at the meeting, the member representing Bakassi State Constituency in the Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. (Dr.) Ekpo Ekpo Bassey, while commending the nation’s judiciary for dispensing justice without fear or favour, stated that the Supreme Court judgment was a vindication of the people of Bakassi for fighting a just course.
Hon. Bassey further added that the verdict has overturned the disenfranchisement Bakassians had suffered since the International Court of Justice’s unjust ceding of the Bakassi peninsula to the Republic of Cameroon.
In his speech, former House of Assembly member representing Bakassi State Constituency, Hon. Joseph Etene described the judgment as an affirmation of faith in the Nigerian Judiciary.
Hon. Etene said after the ICJ’s verdict, a law was passed by the State House of Assembly, pursuant to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which effectively adjusted the boundaries of the three wards of Ikang to accommodate the people of Bakassi and make it their new home.
The former lawmaker noted with dismay the then Resident Electoral Commissioner,- Mike Igini’s resolve to challenge Law No.7 of 2007, adding that the Supreme Court’s judgment had liberated the people of Bakassi from the travesty Mike Igini, INEC and other self-seeking people meted out on them in the past years.
Also speaking, former Chairman of Bakassi Local Government Area, Hon. Emmanuel Etene described the judgment as “something Bakassians have always yearned for,” noting that the affirmation of Law No.7 as valid by the Federal High Court, the Appeal and Supreme Courts has put an end to the miscarriage of justice suffered by the Bakassi people.
He called on the peace-loving people of Bakassi to maintain calm as they await INEC’s response to Supreme Court orders to delineate wards for Bakassi Local Government Area.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Orientation, Mr. Aye Henshaw described the day as a “significant one for Bakassi People” and called on the people to always stand on the path of justice at all cost.
He used the opportunity to appreciate of all those who relentlessly spearheaded and sustained the battle for the liberation of the Bakassi people and urged everyone to continue to stick to the principles of natural justice.
The people of Bakassi had gone to court to compel INEC to recognise and conduct elections based on the boundaries adjusted by the Cross River State House of Assembly, in line with Law No.7 of Cross River State 2007.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar