Nigerians Flee Bakassi as Cameroon Attacks
From Ernest Chinwo in Calabar, 11.17.2009
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=159967

Over 300 Nigerians, mostly fishermen, have arrived the Ekpri-Ikang retu-rnees’ camp following continued harassment  by the Cameroon gendarmes in the Bakassi Peninsula.
The new arrivals have raised the number of Nigerians who fled the peninsula and are now putting up at the returnees’ camp to over 700 persons in the last two weeks.
The Green Tree Agreement, under which Nigeria ceded the disputed area to Cameroon following an International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment in favour of the Central African country, protects the rights of Nigerians living in the territory.
Article 3 of the agreement states: “Cameroon, after the transfer of authority to it by Nigeria, guarantees to Nigerian nationals living in the Bakassi Peninsula the exercise of the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in international human rights law and in other relevant provisions of international law.
“In particular, Cameroon shall: (a) not force Nigerian nationals living in the Bakassi Peninsula to leave the Zone or to change their nationality; (b) respect their culture, language and beliefs; (c) respect their right to continue their agricultural and fishing activities; (d) protect their property and their customary land rights; (e) not levy in any discriminatory manner any taxes and other dues on Nigerian nationals living in the Zone; and (f) take every necessary measure to protect Nigerian nationals living in the Zone from any harassment or harm.”
Most of the displaced persons returned to Nigeria in a hurry and came with virtually no property as they were said to have merely smuggled out of the Creeks.
The returnees, who came with their wives and children, said owing to the “unwarranted harassment and brutal approach” to Nigerians, they took “a very serious risk” running away from the peninsula.
According to them, in order to leave the peninsula surreptitiously they used hand dug canoes and rafters to escape at sea under very perilous situations.
They vowed that even though they are professional fishermen who have lived all their lives at sea, they will never return to the peninsula unless the Nigerian government finds a way of pressurising the Cameroonian government to respect the Green Tree Agreement.
Addressing the returnees at the camp, the Director-General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), Mr. Vincent Aquah, urged them to abide by the camp rules which included restriction of movement within the camp and living harmoniously among themselves.
Aquah said government has spent a lot of resources to provide all the necessary facilities at the camp for their comfort and should therefore be prudent in the usage.
The director-general commended the state commissioner of police who, through the divisional police officer for Bakassi alongside other security operatives, has been giving adequate security to the returnees at the camp.
In his remarks, the President of the National Union of Nigerians in Cameroon, Chief Andrew Essien, said that formal report about the camp situation and the wellbeing of the returnees has been communicated to the Nigerian Ambassador in Cameroon.
The president, who was represented by the Secretary-General of the Union, Prince Aston Ovung, expressed appreciation to the governor, Senator Liyel Imoke for his efforts at giving the displaced persons succour.
Bakassi’s sovereignty was finally transferred to Cameroon by Nigeria on 14 August 2008 following the signing of the Green Tree Agreement on June 12, 2006 in New York, United States.
Although the Nigerian senate rejected the agreement the following year because it was not presented to the National Assembly for ratification as stipulated in the constitution, the federal government still went ahead to consummate the treaty.

It appears the Cameroonian Government is trying to use excessive force to establish its dominance over the Bakassi peninsula. This violates the already illegal Green Tree Agreement, even though it is a subtle challenge to the Nigerian Military by Cameroon, and is expected to not get a response.  It is the perfect opportunity for Nigeria to renegade on that Green Tree Agreement, not only on the grounds of responsibility to protect her citizens, but also on the grounds of a void treaty which has already been violated. Let our military roar and the Cameroonians will go hide in their cocoons. Why is Nigeria keeping quiet? What is our military intelligence doing?

Am also wondering , the actions of our former President in the case of Bakassi peninsula and Charles Taylor seems to have given undue impetus and rights to the International Court of Justice, a court that is not respected by the most powerful nations of the world. Have we not mortgaged our sovereignty and that of other African Nations to the Europeans who control this court?

Note that international laws are not same as national laws; they are based on treaties and agreements. National laws are automatically binding on all. Hence the truth is that what we call international laws are merely instruments nations use to propagate their strategic interests. When we agree to have our nation judged by a court controlled by our peers, we are indirectly subjecting ourselves to control through statutes, where then is our sovereignty? By the prowess of the Asian Tigers Africa has become less dependent on Europe, why do we want to restore neo-enslavement?