Registered Cameroonian Professors As Refugees In Nig Demand Release From Detention

A group of Cameroonian university professors who are registered refugees in Nigeria, have submitted a petition to the House of Representatives seeking intervention for their release from detention in Cameroon.

The petition, presented by the legal firm FRULAW CHAMBERS: Barristers , Solicitors, Public Notarize of the Cameroon Bar Association, to the House Committee on Public Petitions, highlights the detention of ten Nigerian professionals who were arrested in Abuja in 2018 by Security agencies and later repatriated to Cameroon tried by the Military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Kondengui Maximum Security Detention Facility.

The Petition explained that these professors who had lived in Nigeria for over two decades were arrested and charged for treason and terrorism by the Military tribunal in Cameroon.

In their petition, the asylum seekers in Nigeria pleaded with House to among others; cause the government of Nigeria to institute an urgent action to secure the implementation of Communication 59/2022 of 14th October 2022 of the UN-HRC-WGAD calling for their release.

“Cause the Government of Nigeria to take action and implement the rulings in the three judgments of the Federal High Court of Abuja in 2019, ordering the release and compensation of these Petitioners.

“Call on the Nigeria government to leverage on the Abuja 2002 Ruling in Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/30/2002 between The Southern Cameroons Rep by Kelvin Ngwang Ngumne et al Vs the Attorney General Federal Republic of Nigeria, and intervenes to resolve the conflict between Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun.

“Cause the Nigeria government to take action and urgently initiate proceedings before the ICJ and other international jurisdictions citing la République du Cameroun to be Sanctioned for fraudulent misrepresentation during the Bakassi Peninsula case in the ICJ.

“The Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should take its rightful place as a “Big brother” and intervene as a mediator between the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun to resolve the ongoing conflict and restore peace and stability in the Gulf of Guinea region,” the petition reads in parts.

Addressing the media in Abuja after submitting the petition, a lawyer from FRULAW CHAMBERS and also a Former Member of the Nigeria House of Representatives, Abdul Shaibu Oroh highlighted the professors’ plea to return to Nigeria and reunite with their families.

He emphasized the need for diplomatic engagement to ensure the freedom of the detainees, highlighting President Tinubu’s human rights advocacy and the importance of negotiation for peace in the region.

The Lawyer representing the detained Professors, Joseph Awah-Fru emphasized the illegality of their arrest despite a Federal High Court ruling in Abuja and stressed the importance of African leaders upholding the rule of law in handling the arrest and detention of their citizens.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji