- UN says demarcation remains 99 Km
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has restated that his administration will abide by the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Nigeria–Cameroun border.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, said Buhari made the promise while speaking yesterday in Abuja when he received a United Nations Mission led by a Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mohammed Ibn Chambers.
Buhari said Nigeria would not do anything to hamper the work of the various UN committees on the border.
“We will abide by the law. Having accepted the judgment of the ICJ, we are ready to support the security and logistics requirements of the Cameroun-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) to carry out the border demarcation,” the president said.
Buhari expressed his total support for the exercise, recalling that as military Head of State between 1984 and 1985, his administration instituted the demarcation of the Nigeria land borders from Benin to Bakassi and urged that all committees be allowed to carry out their functions in line with the ICJ decision.
Earlier, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, Chairman of CNMC, had informed Buhari that 2,001 kilometres out of 2,100 kilometres separating Nigeria and Cameroun had been marked, leaving a balance of 99 kilometres to conclude the demarcation.
He expressed hope that the remaining area would be completed latest by the first quarter of next year following the relative calm that has returned to border areas earlier inhabited by Boko Haram terrorists.
