Fury over govt’s refusal to appeal ruling on Bakassi abo

ut 18 hours ago THE stark reality that they have permanently lost their homeland, Bakassi, finally jolted them from their long-held hope that fortune could still smile on them. And with the loss of hope came outrage yesterday. It was fury against the Federal Government that refused to appeal the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) 2002 judgment that ceded Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun. But Second Republic Minister and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Femi Falana (SAN) supported government’s position. Chanting songs like “Bakassi is our birth right, Bakassi is our birth right and we will never let it go”, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly Larry Odey, led a protest to the state Governor’s Office in Calabar yesterday. Odey expressed shock over the government’s refusal to appeal the verdict. Some members of the House of Assembly who were a bit rowdy in the protest asked journalists not to cover them as they called for an impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan for not seeking a review. The state governor, Liyel Imoke who received the protesting lawmakers expressed his appreciation for the action of the House of Assembly. “It is a spontaneous reaction born out of concern and out of passion for those you represent, like you said 3.2 million Cross Riverians that you represent, they have your mandate and come before your authorities and query an issue that affects their wellbeing. “Your comments regarding the recent meeting in Abuja are exactly as you stated. I was in attendance, there were clear directives from the president and if you recall I even spoke to the press and commended the president’s leadership… “What we know is that about 12 mid night today will be the last chance that we have to retain or to even have a fitting chance of the review of the very intractable problem of Bakassi, a problem which has been very careful to manage so that we don’t politicise it because there is a number of humanitarian considerations, a number of security issues and of course being a part of a country.” Imoke continued: “Cross River State on its own has no locus standi to file an action at the ICJ. For us what is important is the authorities at the Federal Government understand the passion and the pain that the people here feel… “We may not meet the deadline for review, I hope we do, in the event that we don’t, I believe very strongly that there is still another opportunity which we will pursue to ensure that justice is done.”