Politics
Bakassi: Life of a people betrayed, and future uncertain
The story of the Bakassi people will remain etched as one of the dark chapters of the last decade, not only in the annals of Nigerian history, but indeed in international chronicle.
A long-drawn political and subsequent legal battle between Nigeria and Cameroon over the Bakassi Peninsula, culminated in a 2002 resolution at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague in favour of Cameroon, setting off a chain of events that has altered the life of the people.
The relative speed with which the historic ceding of the territory and the displacement of the people was executed may remain a reference point on how not to make history, especially on the evidence of the state of things today.
The state of the resettlement camps, the continuing quest for the seemingly elusive permanent home, the seriously challenged resettlement programme mired by corruption, sabotage, mismanagement, and abandonment by all levels of government and the international community, all embody the sad outcome of the post-ICJ plan.
Read also: FG summons Cameroonian ambassador over 97 Nigerians killed in Bakassi
Concerned by troubling reports around the Bakassi people, Ripples Nigeria embarked on a far-reaching investigative mission to the area with the objective of casting light on the prevailing reality. The journey revealed Bakassi’s dark enclaves, amplifying the voices of those at the heart of the story, and holding to account those in whose power their fate rests.
The story of this forgotten despairing people searching for a reason to believe in the possibilities of the modern human order is to be presented in a three-part serial running Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
It promises to be a revealing read. Don’t miss it!
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...