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The House of Representatives has raised an ad-hoc committee to probe the alleged illegal annexation of Mbo Mangrove Island by neighbouring Cameroon.

Cameroonian gendarmes were said to have seized control of the island, which falls within Nigerian territory, with the intention of exploring the mineral resources it is endowed with on behalf of their country.

The island hosts the Effiat clan and 16 villages of Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. It is currently under the administrative control of the Republic of Cameroon.

Prompted by a motion raised by the author of the motion, Hon. Robinson Uwak, (PDP, Akwa Ibom), the House unanimously resolved to probe the illegal annexation and urged the federal government to assume sovereignty over the island as a matter of necessity.

Uwak who noted the economic importance of the island to the region stressed that there are approximately 350 oil wells and copious fishing routes on the Island which the Cameroonians now enjoy at the expense of Nigeria.

According to Uwak, “As a result of the illegal occupation of the island by the Republic of Cameroon, oil and gas revenues which should accrue to the Nigerian government are lost to the Republic of Cameroon.”

He also decried the maltreatment and intimidation of Nigerians carrying out economic activity at border communities.

So, the House, “Cognisant of the March 11, 1993 Anglo-German treaties that lay this Island firmly within Nigerian Territory, as the Island lays west of the Rio Del Ray estuary which serves as the official border line between Nigeria and Cameroon as re-affirmed by the international Court of Justice judgment on October 10, 2002.”

•Adapted from a THISDAY report. Photo shows House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.

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