Nigeria may lose communities to Cameroon again –Senate Leader

Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, yesterday raised the alarm that Nigeria may soon lose some communities in Danari, Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State if the international boundary adjustment being done there was not immediately halted. Ndoma-Egba, who raised the alarm under Order 42 of the Senate Standing Rules, explained that the exercise, which was going on in his constituency, was already causing a lot of anxiety among his constituents. “The exercise is going on in my constituency and it is causing a lot of anxiety among my constituents. They fear that at the end of the exercise, we will be losing not just communities but a number of communities to Cameroon. So, with your kind permission, I will like to bring a formal motion on this during our next legislative day (which is June 24),” he said. Giving further details on the issue, Ndoma-Egba said he deferred the matter to the next legislative day to enable him get details, otherwise the Senate would have discussed the motion on Thursday. He said: “I have information that right now, pursuant to the Green Tree Agreement that resulted in the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon in 2008 boundary adjustment exercise is going on and they are right now in a place called Danari. “Danari is in Boki Local Government of Cross River State and it is in my constituency. And there is a lot of anxiety among the people that the exercise will result in loss of territory to Cameroon. “I don’t have the details but I just thought Nigerians should know that this is going on and this is the anxiety. I am going to the constituency now. When I get home, I will get more details and then bring a formal motion on the floor.” Ruling on the matter, Senate President David Mark called for a vote on the proposed motion and it was overwhelmingly approved by the chamber. Mark said: “This country must never, never under any circumstance surrender one millimeter of our land to any country irrespective of who is supervising it; whether it is the United Nations or African Union. This is a serious issue and the matter will be discussed on our next legislative day.”