Bakassi people want Obasanjo tried

Two years after the Obasanjo administration  conceded  Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, the displaced indigenes  are calling for the arraignment of the former Nigerian leader before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, for alleged shoddy handling of the implementation of the Green Tree Agreement to give effect to the controversial judgment of the International Court of  Justice (ICJ)  at the Hague.

Faced with immediate extinction of their culture, denial of access to their means of livelihood and a home land that defines their collective identity and existence, notable indigenes of Bakassi are accusing Obasanjo  and the former UN Secretary General Mr. Koffi Anan, of committing crimes more serious than that of Sudanese President Omar Bashir and the former Liberian war lord, Mr. Charles Taylor.

Since the implementation of the Green Tree Agreement (GTA) on August 14, 2008, to give effect to the ruling of the ICJ  verdict  on the sovereignty of Bakassi Peninsula, the  indigenes  have remained in quandary over their nationality and source of livelihood. 

A former member of Cross River State House of Assembly representing Bakassi, Mr  Joe Etene, told Sunday Vanguard that the  fear  that the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee report might indict  Obasanjo and other prominent politicians who participated in what he called  hushed implementation of the GTA  to cede Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, is the main reason the  committee  has kept the report in the cooler.

He said, “For  over 16 months now, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee has failed Nigerians, the people of Bakassi and also failed God by refusing to release the report of its public hearing on the Bakassi Peninsula”.