The chairman of the Cross River state Traditional Rulers Council, Etinyin Etim Okon Edet, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to revisit the matter concerning the ceding of Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon which has resulted in the suffering of thousands and death of others due to psychological trauma.
In a chat with our reporter in weekend, the monarch said life has become unbearable for the displaced Bakassians who abandoned their homes and means of livelihood to Nigeria to avoid being labeled ‘Cameroonians.’
The monarch, who is also the paramount ruler of Bakassi, said his people, who were still roaming around some Cross River communities, have not been resettled as the federal government promised, and that the pervading hardship was making life extremely difficult for the traumatised Bakassians who are without their country homes.
He reminded both the president and the National Assembly of the fact that the Green Tree Agreement between Nigeria and Cameroon has not been ratified adding “even the Green Tree Agreement had been violated by Cameroon multiple times as the Nigerian/Cameroon Mixed Commission looked the other side.
“We are still roaming around without anywhere to really call our homes. President Tinubu should go into the Bakassi issue. He should give life to Bakassi people who are today in severe trauma compounded by the current hardship in the country.
“Nigeria is not fair to Bakassi people. What crime did we commit to warrant this type of inhuman treatment and total abandonment?
“We are appealing to President Tinubu to remember that people’s lives are at stake here without their homes. In life, there is always room to amend or correct evil done to a people. Nigeria and the international community should stop playing politics with the issue of Bakassi,” he said.
