Five Nigerian pastors and others who live in Cameroon’s Idabato II village, formerly known as the Bakassi Peninsula, have been arrested and held by authorities there.
Their detention came after armed men kidnapped Ewane Roland, the community’s divisional officer, in early October.
Eniola Alabo, the former head of the Yoruba community in the defunct Bakassi Peninsula, revealed this during an interview on Tuesday.
According to local media, Roland and another council official, Etongo Ismaeil, were kidnapped on October 1, 2024, by gunmen in a flying boat along the coast.
According to Alabo, the Cameroonian government blamed Roland’s abduction on Nigerians in the region and sent soldiers to arrest them.
“The Gendarmerie came to the community and started shooting sporadically into the air on the day they arrested some of these Nigerians,” Alabo said.
The man added that his countrymen in the difficult locality called to say that the occurrence had caused panic and concern in the border town.
During the raid, some Nigerians were held at Idabato II, including Iseoluwa Eniola, Feran Ajimosun, Idowu Ajimosun, Abiola Ajimosun, Blessing Ajimosun, Sunny Bassey, Feran Samagbeyi, and Godwin.
It was gathered that Cameroon’s South-West Governor, Bernard Okalia, visited Idabato on October 8, 2024.
He was claimed to have announced a total lockdown on the area, which was primarily inhabited by Nigerian fishermen.
Okalia was claimed to have set a 72-hour ultimatum to both Nigerians and Cameroonians in the neighbourhood to bring Roland back alive.
Our correspondent acquired footage of the visit where he stated, “All shops are closed… The churches are closed till further notice. No exit, no entry in this whole Idabato.”
Alabo stated that Nigerians in the town were economically disadvantaged, resulting in hunger and dissatisfaction.
Residents apparently ignored the governor’s directive to continue fishing in the first week of November.
“They stayed at home doing nothing for three weeks. The people were hungry because their source of livelihood was put on hold. They had to go out to eat,” Alabo explained.
The move was alleged to have enraged Cameroonian officials, who sent soldiers to Idabato on the 10th and 11th of November 2024 to arrest Nigerians in the hamlet.
According to Alabo, the military attacked the community and began shooting intermittently into the air, injuring many Nigerians to varying degrees.
Churches were also closed during Nigerians’ lockdown in Idabato II.
However, when Nigerians resumed their daily occupations, churches opened on Sunday for Christians.
“Some soldiers invaded the Assembly Church of God in the area and arrested the Nigerian pastors there because they were told not to engage in any activities,” the Bakassi Peninsula ex-leader said.
“The names of the pastors arrested by Cameroonian soldiers that day were Adeleke Omoniye, Cascar Ubom, Etim Asuquo, Olamide Ayeye, and Umoh Atete.”
Supporting the claims, one of the Nigerian leaders in Idabato, who identified himself as Johnson for security concerns, stated that the pastors’ lives were in danger.
According to Johnson, the Cameroonian military hauled the pastors away to unknown locations.
“The Cameroonian soldiers took the pastors away,” Johnson said. “A few days later, we heard that they have been released, but we’ve not seen them.”
According to the source, the tragedy caused many people to relocate to adjacent communities in Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
“We are in panic,” the source revealed. “The Cameroonian authorities have made life unbearable for Nigerians in Idabato. We have all the major tribes of Nigeria here. We have Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Efik, and other people.”
During the lockdown, Esther Okon, a Nigerian lady, died after giving birth to a child on October 20, 2024.
Okon reportedly died to death after giving birth because she did not receive medical assistance at the hospital.
One of the executives of the Nigerian Union in Idabato, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed this, adding that the woman had been in labour since October 19th.
According to the source, Okon would not have died if she had been brought to Ibaka in the Mbo local government area of Akwa Ibom State, but there was no action.
“It takes only two hours by a speedboat, but if we see a flying boat, it is just 45 minutes to get her to Akwa Ibom,” the source said.
