The Bakassi Peninsula, a mangrove fringe projecting into the Gulf of Guinea, became the focal point of one of West Africa’s most consequential boundary disputes. At stake were sovereignty, fishing rights, local livelihoods and maritime access. The case demonstrates how colonial documentary records, modern international law and political negotiation can resolve interstate claims while leaving difficult questions on the ground.
Colonial instruments and the legal claim
The dispute’s documentary foundation lay in colonial-era treaties and maps, principally Anglo-German agreements and subsequent administrative acts. Both Nigeria and Cameroon traced claims to different interpretations of these records and to acts of administration that followed the shifting colonial arrangements after World War I. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) framed its 2002 judgment around these documentary instruments, examining treaties, cartographic evidence and state practice rather than inventing a new boundary.
From incidents to litigation
Tensions over Bakassi escalated intermittently during the late twentieth century. In 1994 Cameroon filed an application at the ICJ, asking the Court to determine sovereignty over Bakassi and other boundary areas. The Court’s proceedings required extensive archival research and witness material. On 10 October 2002 the ICJ delivered its judgment, concluding that sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula belonged to Cameroon and establishing related maritime delimitation principles. The Court’s decision rested on treaty interpretation and historical evidence.
Political implementation, the Greentree modalities
Legal entitlement did not automatically create a peaceful outcome. Implementation required negotiated modalities. On 12 June 2006 Nigeria and Cameroon signed the Greentree Agreement at Manhasset, New York. The Agreement provided for phased Nigerian military withdrawal, limited transitional civilian and police presence for specified periods, protections for local inhabitants’ rights, and international witnesses to the process. It translated the ICJ ruling into practicable steps for withdrawal and handover.
UN role and the 2008 transfer
The United Nations supported the transition. The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC), created under UN auspices, coordinated demarcation, troop withdrawal, and measures to address affected populations. The final transfer of authority was marked in August 2008, an event the UN documented as the completion of the legal and diplomatic path set by the Court and the Greentree Agreement. The handover did not end human challenges on the ground.
Resources, livelihoods and expectations
Bakassi’s surrounding waters attracted hydrocarbon exploration interest in the late twentieth century and into the 2000s, which heightened political salience. Public accounts sometimes described Bakassi as “oil rich.” The empirical record is more nuanced: offshore blocks near Bakassi drew licensing and exploratory activity, yet clear evidence of large, proven on-peninsula oil fields comparable to major Gulf of Guinea producers is limited in public geological reports. In contrast, the peninsula’s fisheries are demonstrably vital to local livelihoods, and control of fishing grounds figured centrally in residents’ concerns.
Human consequences and implementation gaps
The transfer proceeded under Greentree’s safeguards, but implementation produced social strain. Many inhabitants faced difficult nationality choices, with some opting to remain under Cameroonian administration while others relocated to Nigerian states. Resettlement programmes and compensation efforts varied in scope and effectiveness. Reports by governments, NGOs and scholars document episodes of dislocation and grievances about property and livelihood loss. These outcomes underline that legal closure at the interstate level does not automatically resolve local socio-economic grievances.
Ongoing demarcation and cooperation
After the transfer, the CNMC continued to work on demarcation, boundary markers and confidence-building measures. Nigeria and Cameroon now cooperate on border management, maritime security and cross-border crime control, while occasional local disputes over fishing and patrols persist. The case remains instructive for other boundary conflicts: it shows that adjudication can settle legal entitlement, diplomacy can design implementation modalities, and robust post-transfer mechanisms are essential to protect people whose lives straddle colonial lines.
Author’s note
The Bakassi dispute illustrates the power and limits of law, and the centrality of careful diplomacy. The ICJ’s 2002 judgment, the Greentree Agreement of 12 June 2006 and the UN-witnessed transfer in August 2008 resolved interstate sovereignty claims, reduced the risk of open conflict and established a model for peaceful implementation. Yet lasting peace requires attention to livelihoods, nationality, and demarcation, and sustained mechanisms to redress harms suffered by affected communities. The Bakassi story is therefore a lesson in combining legal settlement with human-centred follow up.
References
International Court of Justice, Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Judgment, 10 October 2002).
Agreement between the Republic of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Greentree), Manhasset, 12 June 2006 (text).
United Nations, Agreement transferring authority over Bakassi Peninsula, UN press materials and Secretary-General statements (August 2008).
EXPLORE NOW: Biographies & Cultural Icons of Nigeria
READ MORE: Ancient & Pre-Colonial Nigeria
