afrol News, 1 August - A ruling by the Abuja Federal High Court has ordered the Nigerian government to halt the transfer of the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon pending the determination of a case against the move.

The ruling will strike a blow to an agreement on the transfer of the peninsula to Cameroon on 14 August this year. Until the International Court of Justice ruled in favour of Cameroon, the two sides had had several clashes over the area's ownership.

The court's decision was consequent upon the filing of application by some indigenes of Bakassi, asking Nigerian government from ceding the area.

In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Umar said the court wanted all parties involved in the matter to maintain the "status quo so" to avoid destroying the rest of the substance of the matter.

"It is hereby ordered that parties should maintain the status quo and should not take any step pending the hearing of all applications," he said before adjourning the case to 20 October 2008.

In June 2006, Nigeria and Cameroon signed the "Green Tree Agreement" in New York, guaranteeing full sovereignty of the peninsula to Cameroon.

In his reaction, the deputy Director of Civil Litigation in the Cross River State, Mr. Bassey U. Bassey, said the state government will push aside the court order and cede Bakassi to Cameroon.

"This order is not capable of being obeyed because this court cannot sit as an appellate court on the judgment of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. All the issues in this case as well as the final cession of Bakassi are fallouts from the judgment of the ICJ".

The Chief Press Secretary to the Attorney General's statement differs from that of Mr. Bassey's. Mr. Taye Akinyemi said the government will abide by the order, but will study it before an appeal is filed.

Mr. Kayode Fasetire, who represented the plaintiffs, dispelled the notion that the suit was intended to challenge the judgment of the ICJ. Rather, he said plaintiffs were challenging the modalities of its implementation.

"We know that we are bound by the judgment of the ICJ. The presidency did not submit the Green Tree Agreement to the national assembly for ratification while the legislature also failed in its oversight functions to call the President to order," he said, blaming Nigeria for not doing its duty before implementing the agreement.

The plaintiffs want to be compensated over N450 billion before the cession. In addition, they want the court to order the Nigerian government to resettle the more than 200,000 Nigerian citizens of the peninsula in a place of their choice.

The plaintiffs rejected the resettlement of the affected people in the newly Bakassi, claiming that the already inhabited area's people were hostile to Bakassi refugees. Unlike their original place, they complained that the New Bakassi was not a good area for fishing.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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