State of Emergency: Cameroonian gov’t grants Nigerian refugees unlimited stay

Nigerians gathered to register as refugees in Bosso, Niger (photo: Punch)

More Nigerians are said to have fled the northern part of the country seeking refuge in neighbouring states since the state of emergency was declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. Most recently about 1,500 Nigerian refugees are reported to be in Cameroon, Nigeria’s ambassador to that country has said
According to reports, Ambassador Hadiza Mustapha has said that the Cameroonian government has granted the refugees unlimited stay until the situation normalises in their respective states.
“There is a saying that you cannot choose your neighbours but you share both the good and the bad with your neighbours. It is true that we have seen not only with the Boko Haram insurgency but with the declaration of State of Emergency, a few refugees who have come into the Cameroon,” he said.
“This is what happens, as long as you cannot choose your neighbour but you can choose how you live with your neigbour, that is why peace is very important. And since I have been here 10 months and we have put the Bakassi issue behind us, there has been a lot of improvement in our relationship. And with that improvement and with that peace, a lot of cooperation is now possible.
”In the area of terrorism, there is a lot of cooperation between our security agencies and that of the Cameroonian in terms of exchange of information even in joint operations. They have also given us quite a lot of support, sometimes we have even had exchange of suspected persons.
“Like you rightly noted, this is possible because of the peace that now exist between us. A lot of things is possible because both countries security agencies are co-operating very well”.