Nigeria: January 1994 attacks government security forces on villages in Akwa Ibom State
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | NGA30388.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Nigeria: January 1994 attacks government security forces on villages in Akwa Ibom State, 1 November 1998, NGA30388.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac088.html [accessed 25 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No reports of attacks by government security forces on villages in Akwa Ibom State in January 1994 could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, in December 1993 and early January 1994 Nigerian troops were deployed to Akwa Ibom and Cross River States to "protect Ibibio fishermen from 'indisciplined' Cameroonian gendarmes" (Manchester Guardian Weekly 3 Apr. 1994).
A Professor of Journalism at the University of Northern Iowa stated in a 4 November 1998 telephone interview that the Nigerian troops did not attack villages but were sent in because Cameroonian gendarmes "attacked fishing villages" in the region of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The Professor stated that the Nigerian government did not immediately respond to reports of harassment of villagers, but eventually deployed troops "in response to press reports that gendarmes were killing Nigerian villagers." The Professor also stated that there was an economic interest on the part of both governments since the Bakassi peninsula is an oil-producing area. A professor of Political Science at the University of Iowa stated that he knew of no record of Nigerian security forces attacking villages in January 1994 in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States (3 Nov. 1998).
Africa Research Bulletin said that 500 Nigerian troops were sent to the area at the end of December 1993 "after Ibibio fishermen complained of incessant extortions, attacks and beatings made against them by Cameroon policemen" (21 Mar. 1994). By January 1994, the number of Nigerian troops deployed in the area was 1,000 (ibid. 21 Mar. 1994; Africa Confidential 15 Apr. 1994). The Bakassi peninsula in which these Nigerian fishermen lived is an important oil-producing area historically disputed by the two countries (ibid.; Africa Research Bulletin 21 Feb. 1994).
A Nigerian embassy information officer stationed in Yauondé, told Reuters that troops were sent to the fishing villages of Abana and Atabong "because there was a problem of law and order" (7 Jan. 1994). The officer said that it was not just a problem with Cameroon, whose gendarmes were reported to have "harassed Nigerian fishermen and that seven fishermen had been killed", but also between local Nigerian authorities of Mbo in Akwa Ibom and Akpa Buyo in Cross River State. He indicated that the several hundred inhabitants of these villages located in the disputed border area were all Nigerian.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Africa Confidential. [London]. 15 April 1994. Vol. 35, No. 8. "Nigeria/Cameroon: Blundering Into Battle."
Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. 21 March 1994. Vol. 31, No. 2. "Political Relations: Cameroon-Nigeria: Increased Tension."
_____. 21 February 1994. Vol. 31, No. 1. "Political Relations: Cameroon-Nigeria: Border Dispute."
Manchester Guardian Weekly. 3 April 1994. Michele Maringues. "France Plays Referee in Cameroon Border Dispute." (NEXIS)
Reuters. 7 January 1994. "Cameroon, Nigeria Agree Joint Border Patrols." (NEXIS)
University of Iowa, Iowa City. 3 November 1998. Telephone interview with Professor of Political Science.
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. 4 November 1998. Telephone interview with Professor of Journalism.
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa South of the Sahara 1998. 1997.
Amnesty International. 1994. Amnesty International Report 1995.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1994. 1995. United States Department of State. Washington, DC.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1994. Human Rights Watch World Report 1995.
Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1994.
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR). July 1995. Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1994. New York: LCHR.
Resource Centre. Nigeria country file. 30 January 1994 - 3 April 1994.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD, World News Connection (WNC).
