UN commission to meet again on Cameroon-Nigeria border dispute

A United Nations-chaired panel set up to peacefully resolve the border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria is holding its sixth meeting today and tomorrow.

During the meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission will discuss the first phase of the withdrawal process from the Lake Chad area, which is scheduled to happen by the end of the year.

The meeting will also consider the interim report of the Sub-commission on Demarcation, and the interim report of the Sub-commission on Affected Populations after its visit to the Lake Chad area last month.

The Mixed Commission was set up last year by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the request of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Paul Biya of Cameroon. It is chaired by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

The Commission organizes regular meetings between Cameroon and Nigeria according to a mutually agreed agenda, and five such meetings have taken place since December last year.