Ita-Giwa urges FG to quicken resettlement of displaced Bakassi people at Dayspring

Sen. Florence Ita-Giwa, popularly known as “Mama Bakassi” has renewed an appeal to the Federal Government to expedite action on resettling the displaced people of the area at Dayspring Island.

Dayspring is said to be owned by communities in Calabar.

Ita-Giwa, a former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, made the call on Tuesday at the Akwa Ikot Edem Primary School in Akpabuyo Local Government of Cross River.

She said that the people also needed tents for shelter as the school where they were at the moment would resume classes in a couple of weeks.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the school is temporally serving as a refugee camp for Nigerians who were allegedly evicted by Cameroonians on March 7.

Ita-Giwa said that the only way to remedy the recurring Bakassi problem permanently was proper resettlement of the displaced people.

Ita-Giwa, who also provided the refugees with tanks of water, called on good spirited Nigerians, government and the international community, to urgently assist the displaced persons by providing them with basic amenities.

NAN also reports that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had presented some relief materials to the people at the camp.

NAN recalls that the Federal Government recently set up a committee on the resettlement of the Bakassi people.

Meanwhile, the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, Dr Etim Okon Edet, has also urges the government and international community to assist the people and hasten the process of proper resettlement .

Mr Saviour Nyong, the member representing Bakassi constituency in the State House of Assembly, wants the Federal Government to urgently resettle the displaced persons.

A Cameroon/Nigeria liaison officer, Prince Aston Joseph, claimed that Nigerians living in the ceded peninsula were constantly being harrassed by the Cameroonian gendarmes.

Meanwhile, another baby has been born at the Akwa Ikot Edem Primary School in Akpabuyo, temporally serving as a camp for Nigerians who were allegedly evicted by Cameroonians on March 7.

The baby, born to Mrs Mary Archibong, on March 30, 2013, would be the third to be delivered since the displaced persons found refuge in Akpabuyo.

Red Cross officials told NAN on Tuesday that apart from the new born baby, there were close to 30 babies in the camp.

The officials, who pleaded anonymity, said they were worried by the poor sanitary condition in the area.

They also complained about the lack of potable water, which they said, could lead to the outbreak of an epidemic.

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