Residents of Adamawa border town complain of encroachment by Cameroonian authorities
Story from Abdulaziz JAURO, Yola
Nigerian citizens residing in Kwaja, a border community in Northern Adamawa State, have cried out to the Federal Government to recover their land from the Cameroonian authorities whom they claim are trying to annex parts of their community.
In a letter signed by Dr. Ibrahim Kwaja, spokesperson of the community explained the plights of the residents, while seeking for the protection of the rights and interest of the people.
Kwaja, while addressing the federal and state governments and Nigeria/Cameroon Mixed Commission on boundary, said the community was amalgamated as part of Northern protectorate in 1914, as led then by Lord F. Lugard.
He said the letter is in tandem with the Thompson Marchand declaration, which the International Court of Justice accepts as the correct instrument that defines the boundary in the Kwaja area against the ‘watershed line’.
The letter reads in part, “In respect of the ICJ judgement, we stand to argue that our people from generation have never in any case spread beyond Nigerian boundary.
“We would not continue to watch our community tortured by confiscation of our shelter and farmlands.”
As at the time of filing this report, efforts to hear from either of Nigerian or Cameroonian sides was futile.
