The UN’s highest judicial body ruled on Thursday in favour of Cameroon in a border dispute with Nigeria, giving it possession of an oil-rich peninsula in the Gulf of Guinea.
The dispute over the Bakassi peninsula, jutting into the gulf where the borders meet, had brought the two countries to the brink of war in 1981, and was the cause of repeated clashes since then. ”Sovereignty over the peninsula lies with Cameroon,” said the court’s president, Gilbert Guillaume.
Cameroon has claimed before the court that the Bakassi peninsula was included in its territory under a 1913 treaty between the German and British colonial powers in West Africa. The panel of judges agreed with Cameroon that it had been granted the territory. The 665-square kilometre peninsula is in an area so rich in oil resources that it is often seen as a future alternative to the Persian gulf as a major supplier to the United States and other importers.
The dispute erupted into sporadic clashes in the mid-1990s, and more than 80 people died on both sides. Troop buildups were reported in the late 1990s and in June of this year Nigeria warned that tensions between the two nations were again rising.
But the presidents of the two countries agreed in Paris last month that they would abide by the decision of the World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, and that the area should be demilitarised. In arguments before the court, Cameroon said Nigeria seized the territory from it arbitrarily in a colonial redrawing of Africa’s borders in the late 1800s. Nigeria countered that the land has always been its own.
In a case dating back to 1994, Nigeria originally argued that the court had no jurisdiction over the case, but the court ruled in 1998 that Cameroon’s claims were admissible and said it would seek to resolve the dispute.
The World Court first intervened in 1996 after a series of clashes and ordered the countries to refrain from fighting until it had ruled.
In Nigeria, presidential representative Tunji Oseni said its nationals residing in the disputed area would not be forced out and that the ruling would have ”no effect on its oil and gas reserves,” but did not elaborate.
”There have been both gains and losses for each side,” Oseni said in a statement. ”It is not possible or appropriate to talk in terms of winners and losers.”
Oseni said the government would not comment further on the judgment until it had consulted experts. With a possible US-led offensive on Iraq in mind, economic interest in the West African Gulf have surged. US oil companies and strategic planners are targeting its vast oil reserves and investments have sharply risen.
West Africa, led by Nigeria, already supplies the United States with 15% of its oil — approximating Saudi Arabia’s share of the US market. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Nigeria and Cameroon ”to respect and implement the court’s decision” and reaffirmed the United Nations’ readiness to assist in the implementation, UN representative Fred Eckhard said.
Annan also commended both countries for resorting to the International Court of Justice ”for a peaceful settlement of their territorial dispute , and for the steps they have recently taken to restore the fraternal and neighborly relations that have traditionally existed between them,” Eckhard said.
The World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, has no enforcement powers and relies on nations to voluntarily comply with its rulings. – Sapa-AP