Ahead Thursday’s Nnamdi Kanu trial: Biafra group to close Nigeria/Cameroon borders
A pro-Biafra group, the Biafra Nations League (BNL), has ordered the closure of borders between Nigeria and Southern Cameroon, in solidarity with the embattled leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
This comes ahead of Thursday, October 21 when Kanu’s trial is expected to resume.
BNL, in a statement by its National Leader, Princewill Richards, said the shutdown would begin from Tuesday, October 19 and last till Friday 22.
It is expected to affect the borders between Cameroon and Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Bakassi Peninsula.
BNL ordered its members to shut down the borders and the Gulf of Guinea, preventing the movement of vessels to Nigeria through the Bakassi Peninsula for four days from 19th October to 22nd October in solidarity with the court trial of Kanu.
Richards who revealed that the BNL talked with some IPOB hierarchy, said the decision was reached after an emergency meeting at Abana, the former headquarters of Bakassi Peninsula.
He further disclosed that BNL is making moves to shut down oil firms in the Peninsula that are paying taxes to Nigeria and Cameroonian governments as against the directives issued to the companies to stop remitting taxes to the two governments.
It condemned the position of both countries on secession, describing it as unacceptable.
Suspected BNL members had on a few occasions destroyed properties belonging to the Cameroonian authorities, including bringing down Cameroon’s national flag in the region some weeks ago.
According to reports in Cameroon, the BNL militias took over control of the territory, which the government of Cameroon denied.
Richards however said there would be no room for peace as long as both Nigerian and Cameroonian governments are in an alliance against Biafra.
“We warn that should the federal government continue to use the military against the Biafra agitators in the South East, we will shut down all borders. It is not a threat, but a warning. We’ve given an earlier warning so that nobody will blame us for our actions,” Richards said.
BNL admitted that it was responsible for cross border activities and smuggling to Southern Cameroon, which has helped the Ambazonia separatists in the fight against Cameroon.
He said all the groups in Southern Cameroon rely on their assistance despite the denial of the alliance by some of their leaders.
BNL claims it has direct links with the separatists in Southern Cameroon. Members of the group are mainly from border towns and the Bakassi Peninsula.
