Nigeria-Cameroon border: We’ll abide by ICJ ruling —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that his administration would not go against the decision of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, on the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

President Muhammadu Buhari (right) President Paul Biya of Cameroon (left).

Speaking when he received a United Nations Mission, led by a Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, in Abuja yesterday, President Buhari said Nigeria would not pose any challenge 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 Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, CNMC, to carry out the border demarcation,” the President said.

 He also expressed 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 Cameroon had been marked, leaving a balance of 99 kilometres to conclude the demarcation. He expressed hope that the remaining area would be completed by the first quarter of next year, following the relative calm that had returned to border areas earlier inhabited by Boko Haram terrorists.