Trouble as Biafra separatists allegedly target Bakassi in counter offensive
By Uket OkaCalabar
Strong indications have emerged that tension could be mounting in the Bakassi Peninsula region of the Gulf of Guinea as a Biafran Separatists group, the Black Marines is said to be regrouping for a counter offensive.
Credible sources said the militants are regrouping at Uyenge in Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and Isangele, in Idabato subdivisions of Bakassi Peninsular.
The alleged planned counter offensive by the group is coming two weeks after the Joint Border Forces of Nigeria and Cameroon’s Rapid d’intervention Battalions (BIR) in a tensed gun duel that lasted for days, sacked the pro Biafra militant wing, the Black Marines, said to be working for the Biafra Nations League (BnL) in the Gulf of Guinea.
The BIR had recaptured the oil firm quarters, blocking all entering points in Isangele subdivision, Idabato subdivision and Kumbo Abedimo subdivision, part of areas the BnL claim as part of Biafran territory.
Following their sack sources said, Nigeria and Cameroon have resumed drilling at the maritime border of Bakassi Peninsular and vessels are gradually entering.
Meanwhile the joint forces are said to be on high alert following the recapture of areas in Bakassi and reports of an alleged planned counter offensive by the Black Marines.
The BnL for quite sometime now has been holding sway in the Peninsular in protest against the occupation of the area by Cameroon and the continued detention of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi kanu by the Nigerian government.
However, reacting to the sacking of the Black Marines by the BIR in the region, the National Leader of the BnL, Princewill Chimezie Richards, who spoke with some journalists in Cross River State Saturday, denied that the Black Marines have been sacked from the area.
“The Black Marines were not chased away. They only retreated; there is an adage that says, he who fights and run away lives to fight another day,” Richard said.
