Steady progress on demarcating the border between Nigeria and Cameroon – Annan

The situation remains calm on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon as steady progress is made in demarcating their common boundary, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest update on the work of the commission charged with overseeing the peaceful transfer of the once-disputed oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula.

In a letter to the Security Council detailing the work of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, Mr. Annan says about 462 kilometres of the border have been demarcated so far, although there have been some delays to that progress. He quotes UN civilian observers as reporting that the situation along the border is calm.

Nigeria formally withdrew from the peninsula and transferred authority to Cameroon in August, in line with the Greentree Agreement signed by the two countries in June.

That agreement was itself the results of a negotiation process conducted by the Mixed Commission, which was set up by Mr. Annan to help the two nations peacefully resolve the Bakassi dispute.

Under the agreement, Nigeria recognized Cameroonian sovereignty over the region, in accordance with a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2002. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, the Bakassi had been the subject of intense and sometimes violent disputes between the two countries for decades.

In his update, Mr. Annan writes that after the entire land border is demarcated, pillars will be emplaced and then a final survey and mapping will take place. The delineation of the maritime boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria is still expected to be completed later this year as well.

The Secretary-General also appeals for voluntary financial contributions to the Commission’s work, noting its success so far and the increasingly clear signs that it will not be able to complete its entire mandate by the end of next year.