NEW WAVE OF NIGERIANS RETURN FROM BAKASSI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000465 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2029 TAGS: PGOV PBTS PREF PREL PHUM NI SUBJECT: NEW WAVE OF NIGERIANS RETURN FROM BAKASSI REF: A. ABUJA 2148 ¶B. ABUJA 2027 Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) ConGen Lagos contacts confirmed press reports that increasing numbers of fishermen and their families are seeking refuge near Calabar in Cross River State, after alleged violent clashes with Cameroonian gendarmes in Bakassi. These individuals claim to have been harassed, illegally detained, threatened, tortured and driven from their homes in fear for their lives. State officials confirmed that many suffered injuries from violence and another eight died in the camp from their injuries. Victims claimed that as many as 100 fisherman have died since the alleged harassment began roughly six months ago. The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and first hand observers claim that State relief agencies are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the situation adequately. Angry youth have allegedly threatened to take revenge on the gendarmes if the GON does not act to protect the Nigerian fishermen. Cameroonian officials had no comment on the situation other than to say they only want peace with Nigeria. END SUMMARY. -------------- INCREASING NUMBERS OF NIGERIANS FLEE BAKASSI -------------- ¶2. (C) ConGen Lagos received reports on November 6 of 100 Nigerians from Bakassi seeking refuge in the camp established for internally displaced persons (IDPs) last year at Ikang, Cross River State (Reftel A). SEMA Executive Director Vincent Aquah confirmed to PolOff that over 750 persons had sought shelter at the camp at Ikang as of November 25 (Reftel B). Dr. Theo Onyuku, who claimed to have visited the IDP camp on December 1, told PolOff December 2 that over 2,000 individuals lived at the camp with numbers growing daily including many women and children. The press reported on December 3 that a United Nations team visited the camp unannounced on December 2 quoting Aquah as saying SEMA was now providing succor to 1,634 people. -------------- INJURIES AND ALLEGED ABUSE -------------- ¶3. (C) Onyuku said he had personally seen people on his visit to the camp who had suffered "bodily harm" allegedly at the hands of the Cameroonian gendarmes, but could find no evidence of "maiming" as reported in the press. Onyuku, who is a psychiatrist at the Federal Psychiatric Hospital in Calabar, stressed that the victims were traumatized and "feared for their lives" after suffering harassment, assault, illegal detention and torture (not further defined.) State Commissioner for Health Dr. Edet Ikpi confirmed that many suffered from injuries "inflicted by violence." Ikpi also told PolOff December 1 that victims related "very disturbing stories" about abuse by Cameroonian authorities. -------------- CASUALTIES -------------- ¶4. (C) Aquah confirmed on November 25 that eight individuals had died of injuries allegedly inflicted by Cameroonian gendarmes since arriving in Cross River State. Ikpi was unwilling to make a statement about total number of fatalities. December 3 press reports put the number of fatal casualties at 21, while returning Nigerians claimed Cameroonian gendarmes killed 100 people since the harassment started roughly six months ago, according to Onyuku. -------------- STATE UNABLE TO COPE -------------- ¶5. (C) Aquah appealed to PolOff on November 25 for LAGOS 00000465 002 OF 003 international help, citing particularly a shortage of food and transport. Onyuku warned of impending health problems. Ikpi said Cross River State government is trying to resettle the individuals out of the over-crowded camp. -------------- RETURN OF THE BAKASSI FREEDOM FIGHTERS? -------------- ¶6. (C) Armed youth calling themselves the "Bakassi Freedom Fighters" (BFF) who accepted Nigerian government amnesty for militants in October have allegedly threatened to avenge the acts of violence against the Nigerian fisherman. According to press reports, BFF members have been restless for some time, claiming non-payment of allowances, and PolOff saw large numbers of unoccupied youth at the Ikang IDP camp in October 2009. Onyuku believes that these unemployed and dissatisfied youth will readily return to violence. -------------- CAMEROONIAN RESPONSE -------------- ¶7. (C) First Secretary Henry Ndive of the Cameroon High Commission in Abuja told PolOff on December 2 that he had "heard nothing from his own government yet" about the situation and could neither confirm nor deny the allegations. He reminded PolOff that between four and five million Nigerians live peacefully in Cameroon, suggested that the media had blown the situation out of proportion. He said his country only desired peace with Nigeria. -------------- MFA RESPONSE -------------- ¶8. (C) GON MFA Africa Bureau Director Ambassador Peter Mann told PolOff December 4 that the government of Cameroon (GOC) has been frustrated by its inability to bring about peace and stability on the Bakassi peninsula since the August 2008 handover. Mann disclosed that the GOC has sent in "special forces" to deal with the disgruntled Nigerian residents and bring order to the area. He added, "Cameroon has had a problem resolving the conflict and is unable to afford protection to the people." According to Mann, the Nigerian residents of Bakassi peninsula became Cameroonian legal residents in August 2008 and may apply for Cameroon citizenship if they take the necessary steps. -------------- UNITED NATIONS RESPONSE -------------- ¶9. (C) A four-person team from the UN Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission responsible for monitoring the Greentree Agreement which defined the Nigeria-Cameroon border, visited unannounced the displaced persons camp on December 2 from their headquarters in Dakar. Their monitoring work has occured since the 2008 turnover of the Bakassi Peninsula, mandated for a five-year period as part of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) agreement. They documented and photographed conditions in the camp, but hesitated to define the people as "refugees," labelling them "returnees" instead. "The citizenship of these people is impossible to determine," Refugee Officer Jean Paul Vogels told PolOff from Dakar, "because they do not have identity documents." The UN report is not yet released to the public, but the team noted the disagreement between SEMA and the GON over which authority is responsible for the care of the people in the camp. Food, water and sanitation remained scarce, an obvious public health concern, according to Vogels. ¶10. (C) Onyuku pointed out that fishermen are very "mobile" and that there is a serious linguistic barrier between Nigerian fishermen and Cameroonian gendarmes. Fisherman may have been well within Cameroonian waters when they encountered the gendarmes and might not have understood what was said to them, leading to misunderstandings. ¶11. (U) ConGen Lagos and Embassy Abuja collaborated on this telegram. LAGOS 00000465 003 OF 003 BLAIR