Bakassi: Tensions mount after kidnapping

  1. Posted on Thursday 12 June 2008 - 09:52
    Walter
    Image of Walter
    Walter Nana Wilson, AfricaNews reporter in Buea, Cameroon
    The Divisional Officer, DO, of the Kombo Abedimo area in the Bakassi Peninsular, Felix Fonya Morfaw and six Gendarmerie officers have been reported abducted by unknown gunmen in one of the fishing ports in the Bakassi peninsular.
    Paul Biya
    The incident occurred Monday, June 9, when the Cameroonian administrator and the military officers in his company were on an official visit to the Akwayafe estuary in Akwa, headquarter of Kombo Abedimo.

    Reacting to the unfortunate happening, Cameroon’s Army Chief of Staff Rene Claude Meka issued a statement, saying the whereabouts of the DO and the six Gendarme officers are not known.

    The communiqué added that three of the Cameroonian soldiers successfully dived into the sea for safety, though one was seriously wounded. A contingent of Cameroonian soldiers are said to have surrounded the area where the shooting took place, as investigations are on course.

    This reporter gathered that the Cameroonian delegation went to Akwayafe for an urgent patrol when they got a tip-off of a possible arms trafficking in the area.

    Though their assailants are not known, it is alleged that the attackers were well organised, not different from a military operation.

    The Cameroonian military corps has since Monday, June 9 been put on the alert and the reinforcement of the special Delta Command Operation Force for the Bakassi area.

    The Monday, June 9 attack has caught many people by surprise. It comes at a time when the government of Cameroon has been very vocal about bringing peace and development projects in the Bakassi Peninsular, that have been supported by the European Union, EU.

    The shooting came seven months after gunmen killed about 21 and wounded six Cameroonian soldiers last November and made away with arms and ammunition. The Nigerian government said its forces were not involved in the incident and offered to cooperate with investigations. The Cameroon government set up a commission of enquiry whose report has not been made public.

    A Nigerian former local government chairman from Bakassi, Emmanuel Etene is quoted to have mentioned that women and children were fleeing the area because they feared reprisal attacks.

    The northern part of the Bakassi peninsular was handed over to Cameroon thanks to a verdict from the International Court of Justice, ICJ in The Hague in 2006.

    However, some residents in Bakassi have said they do not want to give up their Nigerian nationality.

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