Daily Independent Online.
*
Monday, June 14, 2004.
Nigeria, Cameroun raise observer
group in Lake Chad
By Onyekachi Eze
Senior
Reporter,
Abuja
A 15-man Observer Personnel Group has been
established by the Nigeria/Cameroun Mixed Commission in the Lake Chad area as
part of efforts to ensure peaceful resolution of the borders dispute between
the two countries in the area.
The group, which was composed of five
members each from Nigeria and Cameroun as well as five representatives from the
United Nations, the mediating body, was given a one-year period to complete the
assignment.
The commission also agreed to establish a
working group of five experts each from both countries to work with United
Nations experts, to prepare a preliminary study on maritime boundary between
Nigeria and Cameroun.
The commission at the end of its 8th meeting
in Abuja, Nigeria, expressed concern at the delay of the demarcation process
and requested the secretariat to follow up on the execution of contracts
awarded for the purpose.
In particular, the working group is
expected to propose a delineation of the maritime boundary as delimited by the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its decision, and produce a map on that
basis. It would also discuss in a preliminary manner issues related to
oilfields that straddle the boundary.
