BISHOP DECRIES KILLING OF NIGERIANS IN CAMEROON

Bishop Simon Apana of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star has decried the killing of Nigerians in Cameroon.

Speaking with newsmen in Calabar, the Cleric said many of those killed were Ejagham speaking people of Cross River State whose kith and kin were also found in the Cameroon in large numbers.
Bishop Apana who is a Cameroonian and one of the arrowheads of the struggle for the recognition of Southern Cameroon as an independent republic of Ambazonia, said the killing of the people of Cross River and Akwa Ibom States by forces loyal to President Paul Biya was regrettable.

He said following the formal proclamation of the Ambazonian Republic by the leaders of southern Cameroon on October 1st, not only did the Cameroonian authorities clamp down on the separatist movement but they also voluntarily closed her borders at Ikom in central part of Cross River State, making many Nigerians who ply their trades in Cameroon to be stranded.

The Bishop who is now resident in the United Kingdom regretted that Cross River faced torrential security threats owing to the clamp down on many foreigners, especially Nigerians in Cameroon perceived by Biya’s administration to have ancestral closeness with his people and were therefore thought to be supporting the struggle to actualize the Republic of Ambazonia.

He called on the state government to urgently make a determined move to protect its citizens by calling on the federal government of Nigeria to build up its security network at the long border between the two countries to avert outpour of refugees into Nigeria owing to the ongoing insurrection in Cameroon which can impact negatively on Nigeria.
“Nigeria is already having her troubles from many fronts, including the Biafra and Boko Haram questions. Nigeria will bear the brunt’s of the clamp down on Southern Cameroon by Paul Biya if she does not make proactive security action to protect her citizens and help address the Ambazonian question.

“If the military action in Southern Cameroon spills into the Gulf of Guinea, it will affect Nigeria much. We therefore call on Cross River State government and Nigeria as a bigger power to be proactive in this matter to secure her citizens who also are being slaughtered because they are Ejagham speaking like their kith and kin in Cameroon”, he said.
Apana claimed that the Southern Cameroon was originally and distinctly a separate country with definite and recognised geographical boundary which independence was obtained in 1960 but was denied.

He added that the northern part of that country was depending much on huge natural resources from the south, and blamed Paul Biya for sitting tight as President and killing innocent people.