Nigeria has begun withdrawing thousands of troops from a disputed border region with Cameroon in line with a U.N. ruling, AP quoted officials as saying Saturday. The pullout of 3,000 Nigerian troops from the Bakassi peninsula, in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, began in recent days and should end Monday, said Gen. Felix Chukwuma. Under the terms of the U.N.-backed deal, Nigeria will maintain legal jurisdiction over the area for the next two years and residents will have the option of resettlement or accepting Cameroonian nationality. However, many wish to remain under Nigerian rule. «As a law-abiding nation, all we want to do is abide by the agreement,» said Chukwuma. «Some of the people are not happy that we are going, but the government can work to win their hearts and minds.» For years, Nigeria and its West African neighbor Cameroon both claimed ownership of the peninsula, home to tens of thousands of people. The two countries nearly went to war in 1981, and clashes continued throughout the 1990s. Four years ago, a United Nations ruling awarded the peninsula, which juts into the oil-rich waters, to Cameroon. Several international companies are exploring the area for oil, including American giant ExxonMobil Corp. Last week, hundreds of Bakassi residents met to declare the area independent of both Nigeria and Cameroon. «We have been existing in that place for over 500 years. That land belongs to us and we don't want to leave it. We have the human right of self-determination,» said Tony Ene, a top leader of the independence movement. «If they don't comply with us, we are going to destroy all the oil exploration there.» Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil exporter and the fifth-largest supplier of crude to the United States.
