Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River on Monday declared that no part of the state would be ceded to Cameroon any longer.
Mr Otu declared at a public hearing organised by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives.
“Let it be known that Cross River will no longer allow any part of its lands to be ceded to Cameroon in the name of implementing the 2002 judgment of the ICJ,’’ the governor said.
The committee is investigating a land tussle between the Danare community in the Boki Local Government Area of Cross River and the Biajua community, split between Cross River and Cameroon.
Following a 2002 judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, Nigeria began ceding parts of the Bakassi Peninsula in Cross River to Cameroon in 2006.
The territory was ceded entirely to Cameroon on August 14, 2008, exactly two years after the first part of it was transferred.
Emmanuel Ironbar, chief of staff to Mr Otu, who represented the governor at the public hearing, said the state was still nursing the consequences of the loss of Bakassi and its 76 oil wells to Cameroon.
He said Cross River believed that the issue could be revisited, urging the committee to invite relevant stakeholders involved in the loss of the oil-rich peninsula to get to the root of the matter.
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“The visitation of the committee members to the disputed pillars 113 and 114 in Boki communities is a welcome development and will help you to put up painstaking reports,” the governor said.
Addressing stakeholders at the public hearing, the committee chairman, Beni Lar, said the house passed a resolution on July 5 to investigate the circumstances leading to the boundary dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon.
He said the essence was to unravel the circumstances leading to the non-traceability and displacement of a crucial international pillar, 113A, in the demarcation of the boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon.
In their submissions, leaders of Danare and Biajua communities led by a former legislator, Cletus Obung, said the federal government’s attitude was not encouraging.
“In spite of pleas to the Nigerian government to make strong statements and ensure that the contentious Pillar 113A is found and restored, its attitude has not been encouraging.
“The Nigerian government has not made a strong statement to intervene in the situation and prevent our communities from being ceded to the republic of Cameroon; this is disappointing,’’ he noted.
After ceding the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in 2008, its indigenes have yet to be properly resettled in Cross River.
(NAN)
