Many Feared Dead As Bakassi Indigenes Chased Out Of Cameroon

The plight of Bakassi indigenes has taken a turn for the worse as hundreds of them were chased out of Cameroon with many feared dead.

Those of them who made it to Ikang in Cross Rivers State on Thursday arrived with tales of suffering and despair.

They were among the Bakassi indigenes that chose to remain in Old Bakassi after the International Court of Justice ceded the oil-rich peninsula to Cameroon in 2002.

According to them, they were chased out by Cameroonian Gendarmes for not being able to pay a tax levy of N100,000 imposed on them by the Cameroonian government.

The returnees arrived Ikang Local Government Area of Cross River State at midnight on Wednesday and many others are presently scattered in different locations in neighbouring Akwa Ibom State and communities around Ikang.

Speaking at the Ikang Jetty, some of the returnees alleged that, refusal to pay the huge tax imposed on them, resulted in a faceoff which led to the death of many of them before they were chased.

Speaking in English through leaders of the Ikang Bakassi IDPs, they decried the ill treatment meted on them by the Cameronian government in violation of the agreements reached for ceding their ancestral home.

They used the opportunity to call out to the International Community to intervene and once and for all address the lingering issues regarding their permanent resettlement as agreed by relevant bodies.

The fate of indigenes of Bakassi has remained uncertain since the ICJ ceded the peninsula to Cameroon.