Oil firms operating in the Bakassi Peninsula have remained shut down for over three months running due to the activities of Biafra militants in the Gulf of Guinea.
Recall that the Biafra Nations League ( BnL) had on May 6 through its National Leader, Princewill Chimezie Richards, gave Nigeria and Cameroon a14 days ultimatum “to release Nnamdi Kanu, withdraw troops from South East and Bakassi Peninsula” .
Oil firms in the peninsula were also ordered by the BNL to stay off the area.
Shell Petroleum and others operate up to the maritime border of Bakassi, and sources said some companies have shutdown, as no more vessel is entering from Cameroonian axis, because in Bakassi what they do is horizontal drilling.
According to PillarToday, Cameroon may lose nearly billions everyday due to the shut down and they lose about 400,000 barrels of oil daily.
“We have warned them to keep away from our resources, they use it to fund their armies to come and kill our people, we told them to release Nnamdi Kanu, we asked Cameroonian authority to withdraw their troops from Bakassi because we don’t respect that international boundary within our territory”, sources said.
Unconfirmed sources said authorities in Cameroon have deployed masked members of the Rapid d’intervention Battalion, (BIR) to Ine Mba in Bakassi Peninsula, well equipped with gunboats and rocket launchers to flush out the Black Marine, a militant group loyal to the Biafran cause.
The Operational Commander of BnL, Henry Edet confirmed that oil firms are currently not operating due to the violence in the region.
Commenting, the BnL Leader said, “we warned them (the oil companies) because we know we have large number of loyalists, even among the militants in the Bakassi Peninsula”.
Richard said in Bakassi Peninsula few days ago, he received delegates from an NGO in Cameroon which pleaded anonymity as it’s officials “came to see how to resolve the crisis in the region, possible resumption of offshore drilling by oil firms that have shutdown due to incessant attacks on their vessels by the Black Marine and Dragon Marine militants in the region.
“I requested that all oil firms must violate the maritime border drilling agreement between Nigeria and Cameroon and must stop paying taxes to both countries government. I also requested that all affected oil firms should be brought to the table for further discussion or continue to face attacks by our loyalists at the Eastern end of the Gulf of Guinea”.
