native land, I will never forget my home! This is the song going on
now as we see Abana two pools away. We shall soon send video clips of
our activities for all to see.
A lot had taken place quietly within last week and now. With the end
of Ramadan on Sunday, most things will be clearer.
"Bakassi, land of our birth, we pledge to you, that neither silver nor
gold shall dissuade us from taking you back. We did not choose the
land of our birth neither did we choose our parents, Almighty placed
us there, and we were uprooted in broad-day light, and hurrily so, by
a President who was supposed to protect us.
May God prolong his life and protect his children ! Land of our birth,
we love thee, Nigeria refused to protect thee; we are already there
and 'they' know it not, waiting for time which will soon come." These
were the words of one Ekpe Ekpenyong Oku, who claims to be the warlord
and Commandant General, Bakassi Self Determination Front on the
agitation for a liberated displaced Bakassi people.
The atmosphere around the ceded oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula has been
tensed while residents of Day Spring which is supposedly the rightful
resettlement area have been leaving the place and it is now being
guarded by some militant groups championing the declaration of
independent Bakassi.
Already the militant group who spoke through their Commandant General,
Ekpenyong Oku, had declared last Saturday, August 11, 2012 as Gen.
Sani Abacha day where all Bakassi people and men and women of goodwill
offered prayers in the afternoon for the repose of his soul and the
souls of officers and men who lost their lives for the sake of
Bakassi.
The self acclaimed 'freedom fighters' had directed their members to
wear black bands while the Bakassi paramount ruler, His Majesty Etim
Okon Edet was directed to appear in white wrapper and shirt and offer
specific prayers to his forebears at 6am, 12noon and 6 pm.
The Commandant in a statement issued last week declared that Dayspring
Radio station last week started test-run transmission on 4.2MHz and
5.2MHz shortwave band, hoisted its 'national flag' and further stated
that "major declaration shall be made as we push forward. May God
bless our people and renew their strength."
He also said, "As the D-Day draws near, we call on all men of
goodwill, individuals, human rights organizations and the indigenous
people of Bakassi to join hands in resisting and fighting the present
international conspiracy.
In a maiden broadcast, the Commander-General, Ekpe Ekpenyong Oku,
said, "Please for the umpteenth time, we plead with our people to
leave Abana now. The fight is going to be thickest and fiercest now
that our brothers from Northern Nigeria have fully arrived. Our
Eastern brothers are also here. If blood would be required to set the
people free, take mine. As you confronted pharaoh, do so now."
He warned all travelers on the sea to stay away from the area last
Saturday, Auguast 11 and Sunday, August 12, 2012, it is not good to
travel on the sea.
He said, "No sea movement so that you don't have cause to regret.
There shall be no movement of boats from Ikang or Marina beach to
Cameroon on these two days. Be warned." In a statement made available
to newsmen in Calabar, Oku, had revealed that arrangements have been
concluded with some international liberation groups to assist the
Bakassi natives in the battle ahead.
He said, "Ours will be a classical story of the elephant and the ant.
The elephant will be so harassed and will find no respite and will
dash itself against a tree trunk, adding, "Throughout history, injured
people have had to resort to arms in their self-defense where peaceful
negotiations fail.
"Bakassi people are no exception. Our right to self-determination is
imminent; some will die, but some will leave to reap from our
labours," the Commander-general stated.
It would be recalled that on July 9, 2006 in the wake of the Green
Tree Agreement, a group under the aegis of Bakasssi Freedom Fighters
had threatened to seek independence if Nigeria renounced sovereignty,
but a few days to handing over of Bakassi to Cameroon in the
government house in Calabar, Cross River State, the leader of the
militant group, Comrade Tony Ene, died in a mysterious road accident
along Calabar-Itu highway.
Ene and his group of Bakasssi Freedom Fighters had even hoisted the
Bakassi flag with the rising sun as its symbol in Abana, headquarters
of Bakasssi but this was repelled by the Nigerian government.
Already the BSDF had claimed that it has penetrated parts of the ceded
Bakassi peninsula in their bid to get the land back. A post from the
group's Facebook wall by the Commandant General claimed they were
already at Akpa Ukwak quite close to Akpankanya in the area.
Apart from the claim by the militant group that they have advanced
towards some vital area of the ceded island, there have been no much
military presence from the federal government within the disputed
area. It was only few plain cloths security operatives that move
around the area to monitor the unfolding events.
In an interview in Calabar, the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi His Majesty
Etim Okon-Edet said "From what I have heard, the boys have entered
Ekoi and have entered Akwa Ukwak and they have nearly entered
Akpankaya which is near Abana.
"They have entered and no life is lost. It means that the gods are
with them and I pray that the gods of the land should continue to be
with them until the whole area is reclaimed quietly and silently," he
said.
The Bakassi Paramount Ruler had told the House of Representatives
Committee on Treaty and Agreement that visited Bakassi stakeholders at
the Council of Chiefs Chambers Calabar that , "Bakassi people have not
been fairly treated by this nation and what we are looking for now
that you have come is to go back to our area by any means possible .
"We don't even want relocation any longer, we are going to take it by
whatever means because we have been left astray for almost ten years
now. Come to add to it they have taken our land, taken our resources
so we now know that we are not wanted. I have just seen some people
doing bomb, they have not seen bomb yet, what they are doing is a very
small bomb.
"The process is one and we are going back to our area, we will take it
by any means possible, in the days of old our fore-fathers use to have
traditional means, we don't have any problem with Nigeria our problem
is with the cameroun that they must leave our area and they are going
to leave very soon. Nigeria can go and leave us .there was Bakassi
before political Nigeria and there was Bakassi before political
Cameroun.
"People have been dreaming and planning on how to break Nigeria and
people have been predicting that in 2015 Nigeria will break up and
they have been looking for avenues to achieve this and Nigeria is
opening its flanks to those things and so many things are happening
unabated.
"Bakassi will be one of them and when anything happens there God
almighty will exonerate us. When anything happens Nigeria will bear us
witness that we have waited for long. We don't have any problem with
ICJ and I don't want anybody to go and appeal any case because it will
be waste of time and money we want to take our area out and we will do
so and Nigerians will see with their two eyes that God is still on the
throne."
The prediction that the country may disintegrate in 2015 may come to
fruition if the signals coming is not well handled from the federal
government. However, it is still doubtful if the Bakassi Self
determination Front will make use of their treat because apart from
issuing press statements especially on the facebook, there is no
serious sign that they mean business unlike some other groups like the
MASSOB and MOSOP who seem to be visible.
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