By Anietie Akpan
Four persons have been reported killed as pro Biafra Separatist armed groups engaged in a bloody clash with the Equatorial Guinea Forces in the Gulf of Guinea.
A statement credited to the Operational Coordinator of Biafra Nations League (BnL), Henry Edet, said the separatist armed groups include, the Biafra Fighters, Dragon Fighter Marine and Black Marine that clashed with the Equatorial Guinea Forces as they fled from a combined team of Cameroonian Forces to the Equatorial Guinea Island.
According to him, the incident took place on Friday July 26 at about 4pm when the groups were confronted by the Equatorial Guinea Navy on the Atlantic Ocean, along the Bakassi south high sea boundary.
He said the area extends through the Gulf of Guinea which is 98 nautical miles and is defined by 10 coordinate points that are connected by series of geodesic lines.
According to him, the Equatorial Guinea armed forces were said to have mistaken the separatists who crossed to the Island to be sea pirates hence opened fire.
In the encounter, Edet in the statement confirmed that “one member of the separatists and three of Equatorial Guinea armed forces men were said to have been killed during the unfortunate clashes as a result of illegal border crossing”.
When contacted, the National Leader of BnL, Princewill Chimezie, declined to comment on this latest incident on whether the separatists have been dislodged or have relocated from Bakassi.
But top BnL sources told Pillar Today that, “we have not relocated but only fled from the combined team and we are still in Bakassi South”.
The sources also said that “the Gulf of Guinea is not safe for travellers or businesses yet because there is serious battle for control, we are still in charge”.
