Panic in Cross River as Cameroonian soldiers cross into Nigerian village

By Nkiruka Nnorom

Panic gripped residents of Danare in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State today after over 200 Cameroonian soldiers reportedly crossed into the Nigerian border village on patrol.

The troops, according to social media reports, entered the community during heavy rain, moving through residential areas before being confronted by locals. The sudden appearance of armed foreign soldiers sparked fear and confusion, with many residents fleeing their homes.

Videos circulating on social media showed the soldiers patrolling the community.

Former Vice Chairman of Boki LGA, Hon. Kingsley Mbia, arrived at the scene and urged the soldiers to withdraw, stressing that their presence violated Nigeria’s sovereignty. No shots were fired during the encounter.

Community members said the incursion was at least the fourth of its kind in the area near the porous border with Cameroon’s Bodam district. They linked the repeated cross-border movements to the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon and unresolved disputes over the Bakassi Peninsula.

The area remains volatile, with residents recalling the 2017 shooting incident in which six people were killed in an attack allegedly carried out by Cameroonian forces.

Border tensions rooted in history

Danare lies along Nigeria’s 1,690km border with Cameroon, a stretch that has been prone to incursions for over two decades. The tensions stem partly from the 2008 handover of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon following a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling. While the peninsula is coastal, the ruling and subsequent Greentree Agreement left several inland communities, including parts of Boki, with contested and poorly demarcated borders.

The situation worsened after 2016, when Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions descended into conflict between separatist fighters and government forces. The Anglophone crisis has driven thousands of refugees into Cross River and Taraba states, with border communities like Danare often caught in the middle.

Residents are now calling on the federal government to deploy more security personnel along the border and intensify diplomatic engagement with Cameroon to stop further incursions and protect Nigerian territory.

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