Partial Nigeria-Cameroon border demarcation bodes well for full resolution – UN

As part of a process aimed at resolving disputed border issues between Cameroon and Nigeria, the United Nations Office in West Africa (UNOWA) today announced that a team has finished demarcating 260 kilometres of the boundary working south from Lake Chad.

The action, which comes in response to a 2002 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), was carried out by experts from Cameroon, Nigeria and the UN, who commenced this task in November at the mouth of the river Ebeji and ended at Lawa/Wulba.

“This first phase of the demarcation activities in the field represents an encouraging development in the process of the implementation of the ICJ judgment,” said UNOWA in a statement released in Dakar.

During the field work, the team of experts was accompanied by observers from the Cameroon/Nigeria Mixed Commission, a UN-sponsored body established to resolve the dispute.

“The work was conducted in a cordial atmosphere,” UNOWA said, crediting logistical and security support provided by both Cameroon and Nigeria for the success.

“The confidence built during this process should help the parties to resolve peacefully the remaining issues, including the Bakassi peninsula and the maritime boundary.”

The 1,600-kilometre land boundary extends from the Lake Chad to the Bakassi peninsula, which the ICJ awarded to Cameroon, and the maritime boundary into the Gulf of Guinea. Among the issues involved are rights over the oil-rich land and sea reserves and the fate of local populations.