Federal Government has been urged to
reclaim the ceded Bakassi Peninsular from
Cameroon. Making this demand last Friday
in Bakassi, is a group known as Bakassi
Strike Force, made up of over 600 militants,
who said apart from not being carried along
before, during and after the ceding, the
indigenes of Bakassi have been neglected
by the Federal Government and other local
and international stakeholders.
Displaying heavy weapons on boats,
members of the group also known as Esighi
later marched from Bakassi to Esuk-Mba.
Members of the group brandished weapons
such as sophisticated gunboats,
Browning machine gun, rocket launchers,
among others.
In his speech, leader of the group, General
Simply, also known as Humble
Lion, said members of his group were ready
to embrace amnesty if offered
by the government.
He accused Federal government of
marginalising the people of Cross River and
Akwa Ibom states in the amnesty
programme.
Simply, who read from a prepared speech,
said, “The Bakassi Strike Force is an
indigenous group made
up of youths from Akwa Ibom and Cross
River states, totalling 642 foot soldiers.
“You will agree with me that Akwa Ibom and
Cross River states are part of the Niger Delta
region, yet we have been completely
sidelined from the amnesty scheme and
other empowerment programmes for the
youth of the area.
“Yet it will interest you to note that it is in
Obubra, Cross River State that the team of
Niger Delta militants was hosted, when
states such as Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Edo
and Ondo refused to host the rehabilitation
camp for the militants”.
He further said: “Again, the Federal
Government took away our oil rich Bakassi
from us and handed over to Cameroon. We
as indigenes and habitants were not
consulted before this was done, neither
were there any constitutional resettlement
process initiated for the displaced persons.
“To make matters worse, after taking over
our land, the Cameroonian forces began to
harass and molest our people. They even
levied us with heavy taxation, which
became entirely unbearable.
Giving reasons his group took up arms,
Simply said: “When it became obvious after
several petitions that the federal and state
governments were not ready to protect us
and even the United Nations, we invited our
Ijaw brothers who were already in the arms
struggle to resist the Cameroonian
operatives, but unfortunately, they
embraced Federal Government amnesty
programme when it was offered and
abandoned us
No comments:
Post a Comment