At least 500 fleeing Cameroonian refugees have crossed the border into Bashu Community in Cross River, the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has confirmed.
The Director-General of SEMA, Princewill Ayim, said this in an interview in Calabar on Monday. The refugees were said to be fleeing from the alleged invasion of their community by separatist Ambazonian fighters.
“We got the information yesterday that Ambazonian fighters invaded a community in Cameroon which shares border with Bashu community in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River.
“We learnt that while some people were shot dead in the Cameroonian community, no fewer than 250 were injured, while at least 500 have fled into Bashu for protection.
“We have constituted a multifunctional team of officials from SEMA, UN High Commission for Refugees.
“Others include National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced and Caritas Foundation to assess the situation after which we can determine the exact number of people that have fled into Nigeria,” Ayim explained.
He, however, debunked claims that people were killed in Bashu community.
He said the agency became very concerned in the matter because of the number of the refugees escaping into the country and the overstretched resources.
He appealed to Bashu Community to warmly welcome and assist the Cameroonians. He called on relevant agencies to assist the refugees and their host community.
The State Police command also described the claim as spurious and subversive, the Command through its Public Relations Officer, SP Irene Ugbo in a statement advised residents to disregard the claims.
The Ambazonian crisis in the English-speaking Southern Cameroon began in 2017 and has led to huge number of refugees who are in different refugee camps in the country.