Cross River state government has denied media report that some of its communities, including Obudu ranch resort, had been ceded to the Republic of Cameroon through a boundary demarcation exercise allegedly carried out by the United Nations, last week.
Christian Ita, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Liyel Imoke, told journalists yesterday that despite the fact that the UN team could not trace pillar 113A which was at the vicinity of Nigeria’s boundary community of Danare in Boki local government area of Cross River, the state had not lost any community.
He said: “they (officials) are still looking for the pillar and even the national boundary officials are there. The Nigeria-Cameroon Joint Commission and the United Nation are there.”
Ita, who did not foreclose the likelihood of encroachment on the Nigerian territory by Cameroon, however expressed optimism that no Nigerian community would lost to Cameroon again, adding “yes one pillar is missing but when you are doing demarcation, it is not as if you have one straight line you just go. Boundary matter is no small issue.”
Danare, a Nigerian community on the border between Cameroon and Cross River, had petitioned the state government to ensure that parts of it weree not annexed illegally to the Republic of Cameroon.
They also alleged that new boundaries were being created by some of the surveyors charged with the responsibility of providing correct boundaries in communities bordering Nigeria and Cameroon.
