Bakassi, DO Fonya Felix Morfaw & 6 soldiers Killed by Nigerian Terrorists

This report is brought to you courtesy of Eden Newspaper

Another Attack On Bakassi: Govt Seeks AU Intervention

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame, Richard Nde and Innocent Timbong

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Yaoundé is in a frenzy of high-level diplomatic consultations over Monday’s attack and abduction of Cameroonian soldiers and the Divisional Officer of Kumbo Abedimo, Felix Morfaw Fonya by some yet to be identified assailants in the Bakassi peninsular. A meeting convened yesterday by the Minister of External Relations, Ayissi Eyebe on the instructions of the head of state, brought together African diplomats represented in Yaounde under the umbrella of the African Union to examine the issues at stake. Top level security heads and members of government including the vice prime minister in charge of justice who is also head of the Cameroon delegation in the Nigeria-Cameroon joint commission on the Bakassi issue were present. Though the meeting was held behind closed doors, Eden gathered from reliable sources in the ministry of external relations that the high level diplomatic meeting was among other things in respect to the Monday attacks and the killing of Cameroonian soldiers and the abduction of the DO of Kumbo Abedimo, Felix Morfaw Fonya Some nine Cameroonian soldiers and the sub-prefect of Kumbo Abedimo are said to have been taken hostage while on patrol on the Akwayafe estuary in Akwa, headquarters of Kumbo Abedimo. The Cameroonian delegation our source said went on an urgent patrol after a tip off of a possible arms trafficking in the area. Though their assailants are not yet known, it is alleged that the attackers were well organised, not different from a military operation. The Cameroonian military Etat Major has since been put on the alert and reinforcement of the delta command operation effected. Other elements discussed at the high-level diplomatic meeting include the socio-political situation in Cameroon after the February social crises, international food crisis situation and possible solutions, economic partnership accord between ACP and European Union and their influence on Sub- regional integration in the CEMAC Zone. Security in the Sub – region and other conflicts that impede development, Cameroon and African Union, immigration and brain drain as well as the putting in place of AFRICOM were also on the agenda. The attack has caught people by surprise. It comes at a time when the government has been vocal about peace in the region and development projects that have been supported by the European Union. The shooting came seven months after gunmen killed about 21 and wounded six Cameroonian soldiers last November and made away with arms and ammunitions. 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 published. A Nigerian former local government chairman from Bakassi, Emmanuel Etene, is quoted to have said women and children were fleeing the area because they feared reprisal attacks. The northern part of the Bakassi peninsula was handed over to Cameroon following a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2006. But some residents have said they do not want to give up being Nigerian. Yesterday Tuesday 10 June, a challenge to the ICJ decision brought in the Nigerian courts was being turned down.