Bakassi peninsula ceded to Cameroon, town folks peeved

The Bakassi Media Youth Forum (BMYF) has expressed worry over what it termed "swift handover" of Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon by former President Olusegun Obasanjo stressing that Nigerian Citizens in the area are suffering untold hardship.

Addressing journalists at the end of its meeting held yesterday in Abuja, chairman of the forum Mr. Ene Okon said thousands of Nigerians living in the area are now displaced and living as strangers in another land.

"The BMYF feel pained by the ICJ's ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon and the hurried manner Obasanjo handed over the peoples' ancestral place of abode to its neighbours without considering their rights and safety.

"BYMC remains grateful to the late Head of State for bringing government closer to the people of Bakassi through the creation of Bakassi local government, even though this legacy has been rubbished by the ceding of the territory to Cameroon whose only interest is in rich mineral resources and not the wellbeing of the natives," he said.

Okon said even though Nigeria played a big role for peace to reign by obeying the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment, it is pertinent to draw the world's attention to the inhuman treatment being meted out to the people of Bakassi.

He praised the leadership style of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha who he said stood by Nigerians in ensuring such form of injustice did not prevail.

"To sustain the legacy of Abacha for generations yet unborn, the BYMF will henceforth be holding a memorial lecture in his honour to draw attention of the world to the injustice the people of Bakassi now suffer as they are treated as 'illegal citizens," he said.