Over 20 suspected Bakassi militants on Friday
invaded the Cross River State Governor’s office in Calabar, apparently to
express anger over alleged abandonment of the Bakassi returnees by the
government.
The group, PREMIUM TIMES learnt, arrived the
state’s seat of power shortly after the Deputy Governor, Ivara Esu, reported
for duties.
A source, who pleaded not to be named because she
is not authorized to speak on the matter, said the suspected militants invaded
the Government House at about 10am and for several hours held Mr. Esu and the
staff hostage.
According to the source, the daredevil militants
boldly told the people that they belonged to the Bakassi Volunteer Force.
It’s leader, who gave his name as “Capon,” boasted
that his group were out to compel the government to release their monthly
amnesty stipend, which has been withheld for several months.
He noted that the decision to stage the blockade
was unanimously taken by the group to draw global attention to the deplorable
way the Bakassi indigenes had been treated by the present administration in the
state and country.
The Capon insisted that Bakassi people, who were
displaced when Nigeria handed over their ancestral homes to the Republic of
Cameroon, were being treated like slaves by government.
He explained that the group had in the past made
several efforts to dialogue with the government but said the governor showed no
interest in dealing with the problem facing them.
“Our people are dying
hopelessly on a daily basis due to minor ailments that could have easily been
treated. We have made attempts to dialogue with the governor several times but
he would not give us audience and that is why we are here to demand our little
stipend,” he said.
“We are from the Bakassi
Volunteer Force, who have been neglected by government. Our people are dying
yet the government is not doing anything. We decided to come out here today to
let the entire world know what is happening so when we apply violence against
the government nobody will blame us.
“Before the Bakassi
Peninsula was handed over to Cameron, both the state and the federal
governments benefitted from the proceeds of oil and other business activities
from that place. After our homes were handed over, we are treated like
strangers in our own land.
“If the federal government
has rejected us, we won’t allow our own state too to reject us. We will shut
down the governor’s office if nothing is done in the next few days.”
When contacted, the Chief
Press Secretary to the Governor, Christian Ita, confirmed the invasion by the
militants.
He said the group was there
to express their plight to government but did not disrupt administrative duty.
He added that the state
Security Adviser, Jude Ngaji, had addressed the aggrieved group while promising
to contact the Amnesty office in Abuja.
..premiumtimes
No comments:
Post a Comment