War is brewing on the ceded Bakassi Peninsula as a group under the aegis of Bakassi Self Determination Front, has issued a two-week ultimatum to its people still living within the ceded territory to quit or be crushed. This is barely three months to the final ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon and five days after the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, HRH Etim Okon Edet, had issued a statement that he could no longer guarantee peace as the youths of Bakassi were already restive over what they considered unfair treatment by the ICJ, the UN, and Nigerian Government.
In a letter addressed to the Bakassi Paramount Ruler, Dr. Etim Okon Edet dated July 24, 2012 and entitled “Bakassi: Moving from Rhetoric to Action,” the group said it could no longer fold its hands and watch the Bakassi peoples heritage being taken away finally in the name of court judgment. The group warned that it would no longer wait for any deceit without concrete action from the Nigerian government as arrangements were on to get back their land.
The letter signed by Commander-General, Ekpe Ekpenyong Oku,read in part: “this is to respectfully respect you to call on our people in the Northern Bakassi (Akwa, Archibong, etc) and the Western Bakassi (Abana, Atabong, Ekpot Abia, etc) to leave those areas within two weeks as it would not be save for anybody to stay there beyond that period.
“Please let them know that anybody that refuses to leave these areas mentioned above will do so at his or her own risk. The time has now come for us to recover our land. There was no ceding ab-initio; our National Assembly said so.
“Our right to self-determination is imminent; some will die, but some will leave to reap from our labours, “it stated.
Reacting, the Bakassi traditional ruler, HRH Etim Okon Edet, said “he got the letter from the group, but the issue was how do I tell my people still leaving at the ceded territory to return and if I do, where will they be kept, so, it is a difficult situation I have found myself and therefore appealing to Federal Government to do something before it escalates.”
Dr. Edet insisted that since the presidency easily handed over the people’s ancestral territory to Cameroon without any recourse to the people and has refused to abide by their several promises to settle and compensate the community after ten years, they have no other alternative than to toe the dreadful path that will bring their plight and depravation to the global front baner.
He recalled that recently he had raised alarm informing all Nigerians that the youths of Bakassi are already restive for what they considered unfair treatment by the ICJ, the UN, and Nigerian Government.
According to him, “With total abandonment by Nigeria, the youths have threatened to go back to the creeks and render the entire Gulf of Guinea in-accessible to oil and marine exploration activities in collaboration with their Niger Delta Compatriots, and their Northern sympathisers.”
DAILY SUN investigations revealed that already Cameroonian government has started moving in heavy arms into Bakassi peninsular discreetly to guard against being taken by storm by the youths. It was further learn that the number of Cameroon soldiers in the Peninsular has increased just as several gunboats have been mobilized recently for any offensive from the Nigerian government or militant groups.
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