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Friday, August 15, 2008
Nigeria has officially handed over the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, effectively ending a 15-year dispute over the territory. The paperwork covering the legalities was signed by Michael Aondoakaa and Maurice Kanto, the Nigerian and Cameroonian Ministers of Justice on August 14.
A government official from Cameroon said the finalization of the transfer marks "the end of a crisis", which Cameroon believes began in December 1993 when the Nigerian army occupied a number of villages on the peninsula.
According to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the transfer of Bakassi from Nigeria into the hands of the Cameroonian government is "a model for negotiated settlements of border disputes."
In March the two countries reached an agreement on maritime borders for the peninsula paving the way for oil and gas exploration in the future. The maritime boundary was a bone of contention between the two countries and the last hurdle in bringing the dispute to an end. While the Bakassi Peninsula and the waters off its coast are thought to contain oil and gas, no actual exploration has taken place to prove the region’s potential.
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