State radio of
Cameroon announced
on August 14, 2013, Wednesday, that the country took full governance over the disputed
territory of Bakassi. This statement
marks the end of the interim period, which lasted for five years after signing the agreement with Nigeria signalling the end of a bloody conflict over the land.
"The transitional period in the
Cameroonian peninsula of Bakassi has come to an end," said an announcement on the radio.
Bakassi was formally transferred from Nigeria to Cameroon on August 14, 2008, halting 15 years of border conflict.
The five-year transitional term was
supported by the UN and helped
Cameroon to develop an administrative presence in the area.
The peninsula in the west of the country was formerly part of South Cameroon, itself an area of Nigeria, until inhabitants voted to join Cameroon in 1961. It has
around 40,000 inhabitants, including many Nigerian expatriates.
Nigerians living in the peninsula will now have to apply for a visa or apply for Cameroonian citizenship, and Cameroonians will have to register with the tax authorities.
In October 2002, the International Court of Justice ruled that Bakassi was part of Cameroon, not Nigeria.
Cameroon originally took its claim over the sovereignty of the potentially oil and gas rich peninsula to the court in 1994.
The area is a prime target for Nigerian pirates due to its proximity to the unstable Niger delta region, where attacks and kidnapppings are common.
In 2009, the Cameroon government
stepped up its fight against the pirates by deploying an elite army unit to Bakassi, and by later establishing five military bases there.
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