Cross River Assures Bakassi Returnees Of Permanent Resettlement

The Cross River State government has frowned at the Cameroonian authority for not living up to their billings in the Green Tree Agreement (GTA) reached between the two countries at The Hague, following the forceful eviction of over a thousand people of the old Bakassi from the ceded area.

It has therefore called on the Federal Government to urgently expedite action in its effort to permanently resettle the people in a location of their choice, once and for all.

The Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Efiok Cobham, made the appeal during his visit to the temporary camp where the displaced Bakassi people are in Ikot Eyo Edem, Akpabuyo local government area of the state.

Mr Cobham, expressed his displeasure about the forceful eviction of the Bakassi returnees by armed Cameroonian gendarmes despite the GTA which allows the people the right to choose their resident.

The deputy governor decried the sad development which he recalled happened in 2008.

“As a signatory to the GTA and a member of African brotherhood”, he said, “It is unfair for Cameroonian government to treat fellow African brothers this way.  It is saddening because it is a violation of human right, which they have fallen short of.”

Over 1,000 Bakassi indigenes are currently housed in the temporary camp following the recent eviction.

Pained by the hazards the Bakassi indigenes have been exposed to, Mr Cobham annonced that plans are underway by the state government to temporally move them to a more conducive environment at the Bakassi resettlement camp in Ekpri Ikang, while awaiting a permanent resettlement by the Federal Government.