Cameroonian soldiers repel attack by Biafra militants in Bakassi Peninsula

Cameroonian soldiers have reportedly repelled an attack by men suspected to be members of Biafra Nations League (BnL) at Akpa Nkanya in the Bakassi Peninsula, targeting foreign vessels.

Sources said several gunshots were fired late Sunday night in the Peninsula as men of the Rapid d’intervention Battalion (BIR) forced a number of the militias to retreat.

A report by the news portal Pillar Today said that following the tension in the area, some oil companies had reportedly suspended operations since Sunday for the safety of their workers since the ultimatum of BnL ended on January 23.

It was further gathered that in the Peninsula, some workers of Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), a national oil and gas company of the Republic of Cameroon which holds a minor stake in projects operated by international partners, were afraid to operate due to fear of militant attack, although the Cameroonian and Nigerian military heavily surrounded the maritime borders to protect the firms and vessels.

A senior officer of BnL, Edem Joseph, confirmed to some newsmen that the militias are their members but declined to give details of their encounter. 

The Nigerian Army on January 23, sealed off the ‘Welcome To Bakassi’ entrance where BnL loyalists on November 8, 2021, seized control of the boundary between Bakassi and Akpabuyo Local Government Areas (LGA) in Nigeria and hoisted the Biafran flag.

The group is demanding a sovereign state of Biafra declared in May 30, 1967 which sparked three years civil war, and of recent, the release of Mr Nnamdi Kanu, Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and Leader of Biafra Zionist Federation (BZF), Benjamin Onwuka, as well as others in detention.