7,000-plus Cameroonian refugees arrive in Nigeria: UN

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

At least 7,204 Cameroonians have come across the border to Nigeria as a standoff between a pro-independence Anglophone region in the smaller neighboring country and security forces worsens, a UN refugee agency spokesman said on Wednesday.

“Joint UNHCR and government teams have registered some 7,204 arrivals in remote areas of Nigeria’s Cross River state. As they report, thousands more are awaiting registration,” Nigerian news agency NAN quoted UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic as saying.

“Some 70 percent of the registered asylum-seekers come from the area of Akwaya in southwest Cameroon. Women and children in their majority, they are hosted by local communities near the border.

“As the unrest in Cameroon continues and more asylum-seekers arrive, the UNHCR is concerned that the local population’s capacity will soon be stretched to its limits,” he added, according to the news agency.

He said the tensions between security forces and pro-independence demonstrators in the West African nation of Cameroon’s restive region intensified in October, calling for better coordination and support as more refugees arrive in Nigeria.

The UNHCR had in a previous statement said up to 40,000 refugees had arrived Nigeria as of October.