Six Nigerian university lecturers, some refugees and asylum seekers, detained in Cameroon, after their alleged illegal deportation from Nigeria, have called on the National Assembly to intervene to secure their immediate and unconditional release.
They had written to the House of Representatives, appealing for the intervention of the House to assist in releasing them from Cameroon prison, where they have been detained since January 2018, after their alleged illegal deportation.
The petitioners in their petition to the House, described their deportation as illegal.
They stated that they were illegally abducted and deported from Nigeria on 5 January 2018, to Cameroon, on “frivolous allegations of plotting to destabilize the government of La Republique du Cameroon, LRC, President Mr. Paul Biya”.
The petitioners, in their petition submitted to the House Committee on Public Petitions through their lawyers, alleged that they were unfairly tried and incarcerated in Cameroon prison.
According to them, two separate judgments in Nigeria had been in their favour in connection with the matter.
They alleged that despite the judgments by Nigerian courts that their arrest and deportation were illegal, they were yet to be released and compensated financially in line with the court’s judgments.
The petition was presented on their behalf by Prof. Carlson Anyangwe, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, Fru Awah, Abdul Oroh and Mbinkar Singeh
They prayed the House to “Cause the government of Nigeria to institute an urgent action to secure the implementation of Communication 59/2022 of 14 October 2022, of the UN-HRC-WGAD calling for the release of the petitioners“.
They also prayed the House to do “Cause the Government of Nigeria to take action and implement the rulings in the three judgments of the Federal High Court of Abuja in 2019, ordering the release and compensation of these petitioners.
“Cause Nigeria to leverage on the Abuja 2002, ruling in the case of Kelvin Ngumne et al Vs the FGN, demanding that Nigeria intervenes to resolve the conflict between Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun and respect for the particular clause of the Green Tree Agreement, which demands that both la Republique du Cameroun and Nigeria retain their boundaries at independence, to pursue the self-determination quest of the Southern Cameroons to its logical conclusion as mandated by the FHC 2002 judgment.
“Cause the Government of Nigeria to take action and urgently initiate proceedings before the ICJ and other international jurisdictions citing la République du Cameroun to be sanctioned for fraudulent misrepresentation during the Bakassi Peninsula case in the ICJ”.
“Cause the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to take its rightful place as “big brother” in African politics and cause the African Union or the United Nations to intervene in the matter between the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun or to proceed as a mediator and resolve the ongoing conflict and restore peace and stability in the Gulf of Guinea region”.
