The Senate on Tuesday directed its committee on states and local
governments to liaise with the National Boundary Commission to
investigate the United Nation’s decision to undertake boundary
adjustment between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The upper chamber during plenary condemned in strong terms the
attempt to cede part of Danare and Biajua communities of Boki local
government to Cameroon based on “an imaginary projection of the
Joint Technical Team and in disregard to subsection 12(1) of the
1999 Constitution as amended.”
The Senate therefore urged the Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke, to ensure a more effective
supervision of the boundary demarcation exercise to forestall the
country being short-changed under any guise.
Moving the motion on the issue, the Senate Leader, Senator Victor
Ndoma-Egba, drew the attention of his colleagues to the recent
activities of the Joint Technical Team, a sub body of the Nigeria-
Cameroon Mixed Commission.
He said the team was mandated to carry out field work to trace,
ascertain and reinforce the boundary points between the two
countries.
He added that the team went to the villages of Danare and Biajua in
Boki local government, Cross River State, aided by Nigerian soldiers
to arbitrarily enforce demarcation of the boundary between the two
countries.
He expressed concern that on two occasions, the exercise was
attempted in the area, there was no representation from Cross River
State in the United Nations team led by a Zimbabwean national, Mr.
Paul Mbaya.
At the moment, he said Cameroonian security forces are guarding
their border communities but there is no security presence on the
Nigerian side.
Ndoma-Egba specifically drew the attention of the Senate to the
October 10, 2002 adjustment exercise, and recalled that the
International Court of Justice to which Nigeria had subjected itself
gave judgment in the matter of the land and maritime dispute
between Nigeria and Cameroon.
In its verdict, he added, the ICJ awarded ownership of Bakassi
Peninsula to Cameroon in spite of the strong historical, cultural and
legal arguments put forward by Nigeria, a decision that has been
trailed by much controversy till date.
According to Senator Ndoma-Egba, based on the ICJ ruling, the
Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission was set up under the auspices
of the United Nations to give effect to the judgment and carry out
detailed demarcation of the boundary between the two countries from
Lake Chad to the Atlantic Ocean.
He pointed further that the ICJ judgment did not provide for land
demarcation in southern Nigeria but expressly ruled on the maritime
boundaries, therefore the land demarcation exercise in Cross River
State is contrary to the ICJ judgment.
The Senate leader observed that on one hand, while the borders
between the two countries have been successfully demarcated in some
sectors, particularly at Lake Chad and Bakassi sectors, the
demarcation exercise is still ongoing in other sectors.
He added that the exercise was currently centered around the Danare-
Biajua sector in Boki local government.
The lawmaker also said that since the ICJ judgment recognised the
Anglo-German boundary of 1913 as the boundary between the two
countries in the Danare-Biajua sector, the job of the Joint Techical
Team in this sector would be to trace and locate the boundary pillars.
The pillars, he said, were identified as pillars 109, 110, 111, 112, 113,
113A and 114 planted under the Anglo-German agreement a century
ago in order to reinforce it.
He further expressed concern that while pillars 109, 110, 111, 112,
113 and 114 have been successfully traced with the cooperation of
the villagers on both sides of the boundary.
The pillar 113A, he stated, falls between pillars 113 and 114 and
which is critical in determining the boundary is yet to be located.
He said rather than explore the area to find pillar 113A following
pointers from the villagers, the Joint Technical Team took a short cut
approach and has gone ahead to chart a straight line projection
between pillars 113 and 114 which it attempted to enforce using
armed soldiers before they were prevented by the villagers.
The senate leader described as “hasty and insensitive”, the shortcut
approach by the Joint Technical Team which failed to consider the
justice of the matter, economic interest of the people, known
traditional boundaries and communal affiliation.
This, he stressed, was a potential time bomb capable of generating
confusion and crises in the area if not checked.
The Senate Leader was disturbed that the ceding of Bakassi brought
and has continued to bring untold hardship to indigenes of the
peninsula who had relocated to a land locked area and lost not only
their ancestral homes but the primary means of livelihood.
The Deputy Senate leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, said, the ceding of
Bakassi was still an illegitimate action because it has not been
ratified by the National Assembly.
He said there was the need for the upper chamber to know whether
the United Nations technical committee got approval from the federal
government before embarking on the exercise.
He said, “If the technical team did not get clearance from the federal
government before carrying out the measurement, has made the entire
exercise an illegal.”
Senator Thompson Sekibo, suggested the invitation of the National
Boundary Commission to guide the senate. Technical equipment
should be used to find the missing pole.
He insisted that Nigerians would resist any attempt to shift any land
to another country. In African, losing of land to another person is a
sign of weakness.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, suggested the setting up
an ad hoc committee on the issue because the matter under
consideration is technical and highly sensitive, hence the need for the
senate to have facts.
Senate President, David Mark, proposed the need to get more facts
from the senate committee supervising the boundary commission. He
stressed the need to make decisions based on well informed facts.
The senate then asked the state and local governments committee as
re-enforced, to determine the facts and report back in two weeks.
Mark said, “the matter is very serious, we need all the facts to enable
us to take a decisive action on it.”
www.punchng.com/news/senates-moves-to-prevent-nigeria-cameroon-crises/