Nigeria, Cameroon Agreed Over Bakassi Transfer

Nigeria and Cameroon have agreed on some grey areas in dispute over the handing over of Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroon.

The agreement was signed in Yaounde capital of Cameroon by the head of the Nigerian Delegation to the Nigeria Cameroon Mixed Commission and representative of the Cameroonian government.

The deal finalised the maritime border, which cuts through the Gulf of Guinea.

Remarkable

In the words of Prince Bola Ajibola, "today is a glorious and remarkable day, a milestone in the history of Cameroon-Nigeria relations."

He continued "many people had expected our two countries to go to war, but we have proven to them and the entire international community that boundary disputes, no matter how serious they may be, can be resolved through peace and dialogue."  

After decades of disputes over the Bakassi Peninsula, Cameroon took Nigeria, to the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 1994.

A 2002 ruling awarded the peninsula to Cameroon, and the United Nations (UN) set up a special commission to oversee the withdrawal of Nigerian forces from the territory, a process now scheduled to be completed by August.

Last November, gunmen suspected of belonging to a Nigerian rebel group had killed 21 Cameroonian soldiers in Bakassi in an unexplained attack.

 

 NP/Qasim