against the International Court of Justice, ICJ, judgment of October
10, 2002 that ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, a human right
activist, Barrister Ofem Obono-Obla has called on the National
assembly to commence impeachment process on President Goodluck
Jonathan for alleged treason.
Obono-Obla in an interview with Vanguard in Calabar, the Cross River
state capital Thursday said it was an infringement on the right of
self determination of the displaced Bakassi indigenes to be forced by
the Nigerian government to join Cameroon when they are not willing to
do so.
He said, "It is wrong for the president to say it is not going back to
appeal against the ICJ judgment. That amounts an infringement of the
constitution, the constitution says that every international treaty
entered into by Nigeria must be ratified by the senate. That so-called
Green Tree Agreement has not been ratified.
"If the president says it is not going back, it has committed an
impeachable offence, it is treason. For him to give away a section of
the federal republic of Nigeria under the pretence that there is a
green tree agreement that has not been ratified by the senate.
"The National Assembly should compel him to go to the ICJ and seek for
a revisit of that judgment or impeach him. He cannot give away
Nigerian territory like that despite the outcry, it is treason," he
said.
The radical lawyer who expressed disappointment over the position of
the presidency towards the Bakassi issue said, "It is a huge
disappointment. I am feeling very despondent, I am feeling very sad
that the president who had taken the vote of office to defend the
territorial integrity of this country has given up on an area that
constitute the federal republic of Nigeria."
According to him the area was given away without recourse to the
Nigeria constitution, the international law and due process and most
importantly without taking into consideration the feelings, the hopes,
agitations and aspiration of the people of Bakassi, stressing that the
action remained an infringement on international law and the right of
self determination.
"If the judgment of the international court of Justice deviated from
the content of self determination, that judgment has to be reviewed or
revisited. I do not see why the Nigerian government is reluctant. This
is the first country that has rushed to implement the judgment of the
ICJ," he said.
Also speaking to Vanguard, the Cross River state Chairman of
Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Hon. Cletus Obun
described the action of the president as a clear indication of the
constitution of the country, adding that the Nigeria nation has made
the state a land of suffering and torture.
Obun said the careless giving away of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon
and the lukewarm attitude of government on issues that concern the
state indicated that there was a subtle design to excise the state
from the map of the country.
He said, "We find it completely unacceptable and we feel that Nigeria
must take a decision on whether Cross River State is still part of its
national territory and deserves under Section 14 of the Constitution
to be protected and the welfare of its people taken care of.
"This is clearly a violation of the Constitution, a careless non
attendant and a negligence that can result to no other thing than
secession. We demand secession through a referendum and Nigeria must
do that so that we peacefully find our way into self determination.
"We have that under the International Treaty including the African
Charter on people human right. We have the right to decide the country
we belong to. Nigeria must quickly take that decision because it is
becoming apparent that Nigeria no longer takes Cross Riverian as part
of the national territory," Obun stated.
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