DECLARATION OF RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION

BAKASSI FREE STATE

BY THE BAKASSI MOVEMENT FOR SELF-DETERMINATION

HELD ON SUNDAY 6 AUGUST 2006
AT TOWN HALL EKPOT ABIA, BAKASSI PENINSULA

We the People of Bakassi by this declaration hereby assert our right to self determination as mentioned in Article 1 and 55 of the UN charter , the foundation upon whic h our ancestral land and territory was illegally ceded to the Cameroon in utter disregarded to the wishes and aspiration of the people who occupy the land.

We the People of Bakassi are amazed that in the 21st century, the Secretary – General of the United Nations, Mr. Koffi Annan, could sit and trade off a people, as if they were chattels, without references to the collective wishes or aspiration of the people.

The agreement by Mr. Koffi Annan and President Olusegun Obasanjo is clear violation of Article 3 and 6 of Trusteeship Agreement for the territories of Cameroon approved by the U.N General Assembly in 1946 as well as the UN Resolution 1352 of 1959 and 1608 of 1961.

Therefore as a result of this clear violation of our right to self determination as enshrined in Article 1 and 55 of the United Nations charter and Article 20 of the human and People’s Right 1986 have jointly resolved as follow.

1 The declaration of Bakassi Free State an Independent State within the African Union and the United Nations with its right to sovereign boundaries and a right to determine our political status and shall pursue our economic and social development within the ambit of international Laws.

2 That the people of Bakassi shall henceforth exercise the right to freely dispose of the wealth and natural resources within the territory of Bakassi for the purpose of promoting the overall social and economic status of the people of Bakassi and all the people who are doing legitimate business and residing legally within the area.

3 That the People of Bakassi in striving towards International peace and security extends its hands of friendship to states in the African Union, and the International Communities and all men of good will to join hands with us towards alleviating the poor human condition within Bakassi.

4 That the declaration of Bakassi Free State is a collective right of the People of Bakassi to self-determination, we are not favourably disposed towards turning ourselves and our children yet unborn to permanent refugees in the state of Nigeria.

5 That all companies doing legitimate business within the sovereign territory of Bakassi Free State as corporate good citizens striving towards making their contributions towards the upliftment of their host communities are welcomed.

6 We are also appealing to all men of good will in the Nigeria State and our brothers from the Efik Kingdom and the Niger Delta to support our legitimate right towards actualizing our God given and inalienable Right to Self Determination.

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE OF BAKASSI !!!

LONG LIVE THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF BAKASSI !!!

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BAKASSI MOVEMENT FOR SELF DETERMINATION

A MESSAGE TO ALL NIGERIANS

6th August 2012

Today, we the People of Bakassi still standing on the door – step of a dark history come to you again with heavy hearts, hearts filled with appreciation, concern, trepidation and expectation. Most importantly, hearts filled with determination and the Nigerian Spirit.

We come to show gratitude for the blood of your sons and daug hters shed on our soil, that Nigeria may remain one:

We come to you because for centuries, we shared one destiny, one history and one national culture. We swore to the same oaths of allegiance and pledged to preserve the unity of Nigeria, and to protect and defend her constitution.

We come to you frail and uncertain, as the labour of all our heroes past, now seem certain to be in vain, as we have been abandoned to abject penury by the same country whose unity and constitution we had sworn to protect and preserved.

We come to you at this final hour, still hoping that you, our countrymen, no matter the price, legal or diplomatic, will not condemn the Bakassi to a life of perpetual slavery, wanton exploitation of our human, natural resources, torture and certain death.

We come to you, the Nigerian people, to appeal to your good sense of judgement and resilience, that, NOT IN YOUR NAME should the Bakassi people be made sacrificial lamb in the quest for individual aggrandizement and the resuscitation of Nigeria’s lost glory as a nation. We are all victims. If Nigeria does not want us (which is obvious), we will leave on our own volition, not to be traded off for barrels of oil and / or global statesmanship.

We come to you, knowing that this betrayal has shaken our trust and confidence which we shared in a common destiny. But your spirit is our spirit. The Nigerian spirit.

The total derision with which the collective feelings of the Bakassi People have been treated, both in the manner in which the legal proceedings at the ICJ were conducted, up to this very moment when our fate is being sealed without our consent, leaves us with no choice other than to take our destiny in our own hands, and to defend our inalienable right to Self Determination by any means necessary.

You would recall that it was in recognition of this RIGHT that BAMOSD declared a Unilateral Independence for the State of Bakassi through its then Leader Late Elder Tony Ene on the 6 of AUGUST 2006.

We are appealing to your patriotic instincts and sense of fairness to support our declaration made exactly six years ago today as the last and surest way to avoiding bloodshed and protracted conflict, and ensuring a lasting peace, justice and tranquillity in the Bakassi Peninsular in particular and the Bight of Biafra and the Niger Delta as a whole.

BAMOSD, thereby call on UNITED NATIONS to grant us the following:

That Bakassi be run as a UN Trustee Territory for a Transition Period of at most Ten years.

That all commercial and security activities on the territory by external organization be conducted under the authority of the UN Trustee Administration in Bakassi, which will constitute the highest governing body of the territory during the transition.

That all commercials and other contracts signed by both Nigerian and Cameroon with any parties relating to Bakassi be declared null and void.

That at the end of the transition period a referendum be conducted, with the option of Self – Rule clearly on the ballot.

It is our fervent hope that you will support these moderate demands of ours, by demanding that Nigerian Government use its Big Brother position to present our plight to both AU and UN Security Council, since all indications from the Nigerian Government suggest that Bakassi question is done deal.

Like the Tibetan Spiritual Leader once said, and I quote “ Unless the cruel and inhuman treatment of my people is brought to an end, and until they are given their due right to SELF DETERMINATION, there will always be obstacles in finding a solution to the Tibetan issue”

AND UNTIL THE ABOVE CONDITIONS ARE GRANTED BAKASSI PEOPLE, THE CASE IS AN UNFINISHED BUSINESS

BAMOSD

Bakassi Free State

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