The Nigerian Government has stated that it would solve 4 of the remaining 20 issues surrounding the Nigeria- Cameroon border dispute which saw Nigeria cede the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon following a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
This was disclosed by the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Director General, Mr Adamu Adaji, in a meeting with the press officials on Monday,
The Commission added that the ICJ’s ruling on Bakassi Peninsula still stands, and would be respected by Nigeria.
What the Commission is saying
Speaking on the matter, Adaji said, “There were areas where we have ambiguities or misinterpretation of the judgment. In that case, we put our heads together and try to resolve it amicably.
“When we had over 20 disagreement areas, we were able to resolve all of them, we have just four left; and on those four, we have plans to address them squarely in the year 2022.
“So, it was a rumour that Cameroon was asking for more territories from Nigeria after the judgment at the ICJ that ceded Bakassi to it. That is not true.
“The Nigeria-Cameroon border issue had been settled in the year 2002 by the ICJ. What we do is try to implement that judgment.”
The Bounadary Commission boss stated that Cameroon had never asked Nigeria for more territories, adding that, there was a time that it was also rumoured that UN wanted to create a country out of Nigeria and Cameroon, which he said were mischievous information just to cause fears.
“UN cannot create country out of other countries; neither can Cameroon ask for more territories from Nigeria other than what was decided by the ICJ.
“So what we are doing now is to implement the decision of the ICJ. There is no other request by either Nigeria or Cameroon for more territories from the other. We only have four areas of ambiguity to resolve,’’ Adaji added.
What you should know
Recall Nairametrics reported in August that Nigeria’s Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami said Nigeria and Cameroon are working on final plans to demarcate the borders of the 2 nations through the boundary demarcation exercise.
Malami stated that the FG will appreciate if all aspects of the areas of disagreement are resolved and demarcated in accordance with the judgment of the International Court of Justice, without fear or favour.
