Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Yaounde (Agenzia Fides) – The situation is worsening in the Bakassi Peninsula, where 12 people lost their lives on July 24. An armed group arrived in three motorboats and attacked a Cameroon military battalion. Among the dead are two Cameroon soldiers and 10 assailants. Another 8 from the armed party were captured by Cameroon soldiers and various weapons of war were confiscated.
This is the fourth attack since November 2007 on the Peninsula, which is rich in oil and fishing resources and has been an object of conflicts between Cameroon and Nigeria. An international agreement left Bakassi to Cameroon and on August 15, the last portion of the territory will be handed over to Cameroon by Nigerian authorities.
As the date approaches, the tensions mount, due to the many attacks (the last one was in June) and to the declarations being made by Nigerian representatives on the fact that the accord that leaves the Peninsula to Cameroon goes against national interests (see Fides 17/7/2008). The tensions have also intensified as a result of the Niger Delta Defense and Security Council (NDDSC), that has claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Cameroon military and has declared that there will be more to come.
According to the authorities in Cameroon, the attacks are done by criminal groups being sought after by Nigerian forces, in addition to criminals involved in the local fishing industry and trafficking of arms and drugs. However, there is also the political aspect: 90% of the inhabitants of Bakassi are of Nigerian origin and are not pleased with the transfer of the peninsula to Cameroon. There is also a feared alliance between the rebels of Bakassi and the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), a group calling for the independence of English-speaking Cameroon people.
Cameroon has received full support from France, whose ambassador in Yaounde declared that the country, along with the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, is one of the 4 guarantors in the Greentree Accords of July 2006 that called for the passing of Bakassi from Nigerian hands to Cameroon. “We will be standing at your side in the moment of the ceding,” said Ambassador Georges Serre, adding that “France will entirely support Cameroon, as it is a friend and an ally, so that on that occasion all may take place in the best possible manner.” (LM) (Agenzia Fides 25/7/2008)
