Five Nigerian pastors and others residing in the Idabato II community of Cameroon, formerly known as the Bakassi Peninsula, have been arrested and detained by the Cameroonian authorities.
Their detention followed the kidnap of the community’s Divisional Officer, Ewane Roland, by armed men in early October.
A former chairman of the Yoruba community in the defunct Bakassi Peninsula, Eniola Alabo, during an interview on Tuesday.
Local media had reported that Roland, alongside another official of the council, Etongo Ismaeil, was whisked away on October 1, 2024, by gunmen who used a flying boat in the coastal area.
According to Alabo, the Cameroonian government blamed Nigerians in the area for Roland’s abduction and deployed 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 explained that his compatriots in the troubled community called and explained that the incident had plunged them into panic and anxiety in the border town.
During the raid, some Nigerians, including Iseoluwa Eniola, Feran Ajimosun, Idowu Ajimosun, Abiola Ajimosun, Blessing Ajimosun, Sunny Bassey, Feran Samagbeyi, and Godwin were detained in Idabato II.
Governor locks down community
“Apples Bite” gathered that Cameroon’s South-West Governor, Bernard Okalia, visited Idabato on October 8, 2024.
He was said to have declared a total lockdown of the area, which had mostly Nigerians who were fishermen.
Okalia was said to have issued a 72-hour ultimatum to both Nigerians and Cameroonians in the community to produce Roland alive.
A clip of the visit, obtained by our correspondent, showed him saying, “All shops are closed…the churches are closed till further notice. No exit, no entry in this whole Idabato.”
Alabo said Nigerians in the community were rendered economically handicapped, leading to hunger and frustration.
Residents, however, reportedly defied the governor’s order in the first week of November to go about their fishing business.
“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 said.
The action was said to have angered the Cameroonian authorities, who deployed soldiers in Idabato on the 10th and 11th of November 2024 to arrest Nigerians in the community.
According to Alabo, the soldiers invaded the community and started shooting sporadically in the air, which made many Nigerians suffer varying degrees of injury.
Pastors arrested
During the lockdown imposed on Nigerians in Idabato II, churches were also locked.
But when Nigerians began attending to their normal activities, churches also opened on Sunday to 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.”
Buttressing the claims, one of the Nigerian leaders in Idabato, who identified himself as Johnson for security reasons, said the lives of the pastors were in danger.
Johnson said the pastors were whisked away by the Cameroonian soldiers to unknown places.
“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.”
The source also said the incident forced many people to relocate to neighbouring 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.”
