The decision was reportedly made at a meeting on 2 July 2006 and The Vanguard newspaper of Nigeria reported the decision to secede.
Bakassi |
After the International Court of Justice had ruled that the disputed Bakassi Peninsula belonged to Cameroun, he noted that "The value of lives of Nigerians in the Bakassi Peninsula and beyond far out-weighs the worth of oil and gas deposit in the area".
These groups likely took their name from the Bakassi peninsula, an oil-rich peninsula in the Annang /Efik / Ibibio region of the coastal southeastern Nigeria disputes over the peninsula which had hastened hostilities between Nigeria and Cameroon, with both countries contending for ownership of the region and its resources.
Without the 1961 plebicite, Nigeria would not have the current problem with Cameroon about Bakassi as Bakassi would have been an interior part of Nigerian (Akwa Ibom and Cross River) territory.
The Nigerian National Assembly delegation from Cross River comprises three Senators representing Cross River North, Cross River South, and Cross River Central, and eight Representatives representing Calabar Munincipal/Odukpani, Ogoja/Iyala, Ikom/Boki, Yakurr/Abi, Bekwarra/Obudu/Obanliku, Akpabuyo/Bakassi/Calabar South, Akamkpa/biase, and Obubra/ Etung.
After being appointed Akwa Ibom administrator in December 1993, Bako developed infrastructure in the Bakassi area, later forcibly claimed by Cross River State.