Niger Delta Stakeholders want ICJ ruling on Bakassi revisited

Stakeholders at the Niger Delta Dialogue has called for the review of the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ceded part of Nigeria’s territory; the Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroon in 2012, describing the decision as illogical and one of the major cause of insecurity and displaced persons in the Niger Delta region.
On 10 October 2002, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague ceded to Cameroun the Bakassi peninsula, an oil-rich island without given the people the right to decide where they want to be.
The stakeholders made the submission on Tuesday in Abuja during a dialogue tagged, “Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea and Implications for the Niger Delta Region.”
Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw who cited many document on the 1913 Anglo-German Treaty, pointed out that the treaty was never signed by the British and German colonialists, saying, “The ICJ judgement that ceded Bakassi to Cameroon was never existed.”
According to him, the International Court of Justice itself is political because, the judge that ruled on the Bakassi was a Frenchman, therefore, it was a long calculated game planned by the French government to award the Peninsular to its francophone colony.
He said that Cameroon was not abiding by the agreements of the ruling, therefore, the issue of Bakassi should be revisited.
He further disclosed that the Cameroonian Gendams harassed and kill the people of Bakassi on daily basis.
They also attributed the reason for escalation of crisis in the gulf of guinea to failure of leadership from the various governments saying 2the people of the region had long been neglected.”
The panel observed that from 2008 to 2012, about 3000 unaccompanied children come in to Calabar from Bakassi awarning that if urgent action is not taken the humanitarian crisis in the region will go out of hand.
One of the Speakers, Rt. Honourable Orok Duke said that it was time for the concerned authority to look into the myriads problem confronting the people of the region especially those in Bakassi, Southern Cameroon and those living within the oil producing areas of the region.
Other issues discussed were militancy and implications for the Gulf of Guinea and Niger Delta region, Post ICJ judgement and matters arising, IDPs and external threats within the Gulf of Guinea, emergency responses and the Gulf of Guinea,as well as military intervention and competing sub-regional and national strategies.
Notable personalities at the event include: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Godfrey Onyeama,Head of European Delegation Ambassador Michel Arrion, HRM King Alfred Diete Spiff, Minister of Niger Delta Usani Uguru Usani, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari, and the Senior Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of Amnesty Programme, Gen. Paul Boroh.
Others include Sen. Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, Amb. Nkoyo Toyo, Chairman House Committee on Foreign Affairs Hon Nnenna Ukeje, Ambassador Godknows Igali amongst others.