Nigeria gives land to Cameroon
2006-08-14 15:20
Lagos - Nigeria will hand over the northern part of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon after pulling out thousands of troops from the territory at the weekend, say Nigerian military officers. The officers said the hand-over would take place on Monday.
The international court of justice ruled in 2002 that Nigeria should turn over Bakassi, which had offshore oil deposits, to its eastern neighbour after a decades-long dispute, which nearly brought the two countries to war in 1981.
The Nigerian flag would be lowered and that of Cameroon hoisted in Archibong, the capital of northern Bakassi, at a ceremony in the early afternoon, marking the formal handing over of the territory to the central African nation.
One senior Nigerian officer said: "Northern Bakassi is what will be handed over to Cameroon today."
250 000 vow to resist hand-over
Officials said that the chiefs of defence of Nigeria and Cameroon, and a United Nations representative, would sign a transfer of authority paper at the ceremony, expected to be attended also by other senior figures from both countries.
The southern part of the peninsula would remain under Nigerian civil administration for the next two years to allow villagers to decide if they wanted to remain in the territory, with the option of retaining their nationality, adopting Cameroonian citizenship, or moving to Nigeria.
Many of the up to 250 000 residents of the three islands that made up the peninsula, measuring 3 000km², had vowed to resist the hand-over.
The size of the population depended on the season, as fishermen flocked there at certain times of the year.
Ordinary Cameroonians welcome the transfer
In Cameroon, the government made no immediate statement about the hand-over and ministers didn't respond to requests for comments. But, ordinary Cameroonians welcomed the transfer.
Cecilia Mando, a 33-year-old secondary school teacher in Yaounde, said: "I am pleased and glad that at last Nigeria has come to see reason and is handing over our territory to us.
"This is an added asset for us. It will give us access at last to the oil resources in the region.
"It calls for celebration. I cannot understand why our government is not making any statement about it."
Other Cameroonians urged the government not to neglect border areas.
Severin Messi, 47, said: "The government should now move to invest massively in Bakassi to develop it, as well as other border regions, so our presence is felt."
Nigeria had initially cited "technical difficulties" for missing a September 2004 deadline to pull out of Bakassi, but agreed on June 12 this year to withdraw within 60 days.