story by crossriverwatch
The Paramount Ruler of Bakassi and Chairman, Cross River State Council of Chiefs, His Royal Majesty, Etim Okon Edet declared today that if his people, due to the refusal of the federal government to appeal the International Court of Justice, ICJ, judgment that ceded their land to Cameroun, choose to declare war on Nigeria, he will pray for them to achieve victory.
Speaking live this morning on telephone in a radio program on Nigeria Info 99.3 fm in Lagos, monitored by crossriverwatch, the monarch said, he believes that against all odds, God will intervene in the Bakassi matter and save his people.
When he was asked what responses he has been getting from the Cross River State Governor and the President over the Bakassi stalemate, he said: “they have continued to assure me over and over that everything will be alright. That we will be adequately relocated and resettled. That we will all be compensated. But up till now, nothing has happened. The women and children are still dying. Our people are facing all kinds of problems. It is good that the government obeyed the terms of the judgment, but going to appeal within the time allowed is also in obedience to that judgment. The government will not be infringing on any part of the judgment if they appeaI. I have been saying that the judgment was obtained fraudulently, and anything that was obtained fraudulently should be returned. I know that God will intervene like He did to the children of Israel”.
When reminded of the recent comments of the Information Minister Labaran Maku on the matter and what the President said at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, that the federal government will obey the judgment of the ICJ, the monarch said: “you know they are not God. They are only speaking like humans. They don’t know what God can do. I believe that like God did for the children of Israel, at the last minute, God will also give us victory. I know God will intervene”.
When the interviewer sought the position of the monarch on arms bearing, seeking to know what the monarch feels about a section of the Bakassi people who have taken up arms and if more decide to, should the federal government fail to appeal the judgment, King Etim Okon Edet answered: “you know it is not everybody that goes to war. Like the Israelites, some people will stay at home to pray. If they decide to go to war against Nigeria, I will pray for them to win. I will stay at home along with others who will not go and pray for them and I know God will intervene”.
The Senate yesterday rejected the ICJ judgment and called on the federal government to immediately appeal the judgment which ceded the oil rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun ten years ago. The window of opportunity for appeal of that judgment closes on the 10th of October 2012 when it would have been ten years since the landmark judgment was delivered in the Hague. The federal government has maintained that it has no interest in appealing the judgment.
Cross River senators like Ndoma Egba who is also the Senate Leader and Senator Ben Ayade were very outspoken about the matter on the floor of the senate yesterday after Senator Abdul Ningi moved the motion.
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