Can't wait for this to halp drive up the price of oil.
Cameroon accuses Nigeria of attacks in Bakassi
23 Jun 2005 11:03:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Tansa Musa
YAOUNDE, June 23 (Reuters) - Cameroon said on Thursday Nigerian troops
had killed one of its soldiers in the disputed Bakassi peninsula,
thought to hold large oil reserves, and pledged to refer the matter to
the United Nations.
Nigeria's Defence Ministry denied the charge, saying its troops did not
fire a shot.
Cameroon's Communication Minister Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo accused
Nigerian armed forces of "repeated aggression" against Cameroonian
positions last week and on Tuesday.
"These incidents caused the death of a Cameroonian soldier, serious
injuries and material damage," he said in a statement.
Bakassi's status almost brought Nigeria and Cameroon to war in 1981.
After more clashes in the 1990s, the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) ruled in 2002 that it belonged to Cameroon. Nigeria was due to
hand over the peninsula last September but failed to do so, citing
technical difficulties.
Most of Bakassi is wetlands rich in fish, but the offshore area in the
Gulf of Guinea contains oilfields already producing under Nigerian
licences and there is potential for more discoveries, especially in
deep water.
The Gulf of Guinea has seen a swathe of huge deep water oil discoveries
over the last decade and could provide the United States, the world's
biggest energy consumer, with a strategic supplement to its supplies
from the Middle East.
Brigadier-General Ganiyu Adewale of Nigeria's Defence Ministry said
Cameroon's claim was "completely untrue".
"There have been frequent clashes between Nigerian fishermen and
Cameroonian troops in Bakassi. The fishermen usually complain that
Cameroonian soldiers always attack and seize their boats and trawlers,"
he said.
"So if there were clashes in the area, it would probably have been with
the fishermen and not Nigerian troops."
Mbonjo said in his statement that Cameroon's President Paul Biya had
decided to refer the matter to the United Nations.
The statement did not give details of the soldier's death but local
media reports have said he was killed when Nigerians fired a shell at a
Cameroonian position last week.
In May, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Biya agreed to
negotiate a new date for Nigerian troops to withdraw but since then
talks have stalled.
The handover has been opposed by some Bakassi leaders and Nigerian
lawmakers who say the peninsula is home to 300,000 people who do not
want to become Cameroonians.
United Nations officials say the number can vary from 25,000 to 250,000
as fishermen flock to the peninsula's rich waters at certain times of
the year. It also says Cameroonians who fled the area when Nigeria
moved in are keen to return.
(Additional reporting by Tume Ahemba in Lagos)
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