Cameroon/Nigeria

Nigeria hands over Bakassi peninsula

Article published on the 2008-08-14 Latest update 2008-08-14 13:57 TU

The Cameroonian president and his Nigerian colleague Olusegun Obasanjo at the time of the signing of the agreement.
(Photo : Eskinder Debebe / United Nations)

Nigeria has handed over control of the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to its neighbour Cameroon, ending a 15-year dispute, despite fears the handover will provoke attacks from local armed groups opposed to the change. Heightened security concerns in Bakassi forced organisers to cancel a formal flag-exchanging ceremony at the peninsula's main town Abana, relocating it instead to a safer venue in Calabar city.

The legal paperwork was signed on Thursday by Nigeria's Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa and by his Cameroonian counterpart Maurice Kanto.

The handover will end a 15-year dispute over a territory believed to contain considerable oil and gas reserves.

Despite the move, President Umaru Yar'Adua insisted Nigeria would not abandon its international obligations.

"This handing-over process, as painful as it is for everyone including the president, is a commitment we have made to the international community and we have a responsibility to keep it," he said.

The enclave was awarded to Cameroon by the International Court of Justice in the Hague six years ago after a drawn-out legal battle.  In the presence of then UN secretary general Kofi Annan, both sides agreed to a two-year transition during US-mediated talks.

The transfer has been threatened by last-minute legal challenges and a number of deadly attacks which led to the death of 50 people including a senior Cameroonian official.

Nigerian geographer Emmanuel Iga told RFI said there were two main problems - displaced people and compensation.

"The problem therefore is that of the resettlement of residents, that has decided to re-enter the Nigerian side and would not want to be naturalised as Cameroonians after the handover," he says.