Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria W. Musa
Authorities in Nigeria’s Cross River State say they are grappling with an influx of migrants fleeing the violence in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions.
Cross River government regrets that the over 50,000 migrants from Cameroon residing in various parts of the communities across the state add to over 150, 000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) fleeing conflicts within Nigeria.
Speaking during a workshop on Children of Rural Africa- Nigeria (COR Africa) held at Transcorp Hotel, Calabar, the Cross River Director General DG, Migration and Control Agency, Prince Mike Abua, said it is high time federal government and the International Commission for Migrants, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons conducted a comprehensive survey in the state so as to ascertained the number of migrants, refugees and persons who had been Internally displaced in the state.
Speaking on the topic Agro-business and Education Opportunities for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced, Abua said it would be easy for a database to be built to enable the government to have a full grasp of actual migrants and refugees figure in Cross River.
According to him, there are 150,000 Internally Displaced Persons as a result of civil unrest occasioned by inter-tribal/communal clashes over land.
He added that the database would also help the government to plan ahead of time in terms of infrastructure and facilities that can provide succor to the refugees and the internally displaced.
Cameroon’s state forces have been battling to dislodge armed separatists who pitched their tents in the North West and South West Regions since Anglophone protests transformed into an armed conflict in 2017.
Corporate demands by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers led to protests in November 2016. The street demonstrations later morphed into ongoing running gun battles between state forces and armed separatist fighters in the predominantly English-speaking regions, leading to untold destruction of human lives, their habitats, and livelihoods.
Tit-for-tat killings, kidnappings, arsons, maiming, lockdowns, ghost towns, and outright terror have become part of daily lives in some parts of the English-speaking regions.
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