Nigeria is to complete its withdrawal next week from the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula along its maritime border with Cameroon, Nigeria's defence chiefs said in Abuja Tuesday, according to dpa. The withdrawal began on July 1 with the redeployment of "non- essential elements" of the Nigeria Armed Forces. The Nigerian Navy would leave last, the statement from defence headquarters said. Air Force Captain Yusuf Anas said in a statement that President Olusegun Obasanjo had directed that Nigeria should not stay in the peninsula a day longer. The final withdrawal of Nigerian troops would start on Thursday and would be completed next Tuesday. Anas said the withdrawal, which would involve a massive movement of troops and equipment, was in line with a ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which ceded the peninsula to Cameroon in October 2002. The peninsula would be officially handed over to Cameroon Tuesday, the statement said. Obasanjo signed a treaty at the Greentree Resort in New Jersey, United States on June 12 with Cameroon's President Paul Biya, providing for the handover of the peninsula. The treaty, supervised by the UN, gave Nigeria 90 days to complete the withdrawal. On Monday in New York, Nigeria's Justice Minister Bayo Ojo assured his country would not jeopardize the withdrawal, as some Bakassi youths have vow to form an independent country. Cameroon had dragged Nigeria to the International Court of Justice to contest its sovereignty over the peninsula.
