142 Cameroonians Escape to A’Ibom Due to Crisis in Southern Cameroon
Okon Bassey
No fewer than 142 Cameroonian are taking refuge in Akwa Ibom State as a result of the crisis rocking the Southern and English-speaking part of Cameroon, the state Controller of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Livingstone Amadi, said at the weekend
Amadi who made the disclosure during an interview in Uyo, said the refugees currently spread across three local government areas of the state.
The state NIS boss who is barely three months old in the state, said the Cameroonian refugees were being camped in a makeshift structures in Oron, Eket and Mkpat Enin Local Government Areas of the state.
According to him, the Akwa Ibom State government had assisted with relief materials, stressing that the Cameroonian refugees experience was a national issue to Nigeria given the influx of people from Southern Cameroon.
“You know border states like Cross River, Benue and Taraba, are also affected by the refugees fleeing English-speaking areas of Cameroon into Nigeria.
“The Akwa Ibom State government had sent relief materials to the three different camps to support the refugees there.
“We have also gotten delegations from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),” he added.
Since last year, the English- speaking regions of Cameroon haswitnessed tensionsover alleged discrimination against them by the majority French-speaking population, leading to thousands fleeing the country.
Amadi said within the last three months of his assumption of duty, he had rebranded the state headquarters to make the work environment attractive to both staff and the public.
“We have tiled the passport office, giving facelift to the comptroller’s office; we are tiling the production and enrolment office in the next one week. We are making judicious application of the little funds that we have,” Amadi stated.
The NIS comptroller said he was impressed with the conduct of his officers in the command, emphasising that his they have exhibited the highest sense decorum in border management.
“The federal government is working on modalities for ease of doing business in Nigeria, my officers are very responsible, they cannot brutalise any businessman coming in or going out of Nigeria.
“We are security agency of government interfacing with the public at all times.
“My officers had been conducting themselves in orderly manner depicting the behaviour of trained and disciplined officers,” he maintained.
He said t it was unfounded that his men had been extorting money and brutalising travellers along the Oron beach in Oron Local Government Area of the state.