Communiqué adopted at the thirteenth meeting of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission

1. The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, which was established pursuant to the Joint Communiqué adopted at the meeting held on 15 November 2002, in Geneva, between their Excellencies Presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, held its Thirteenth meeting in Yaoundé on 28 and 29 July 2005. Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, chaired the meeting of the Commission while Vice-Prime Minister Amadou Ali of Cameroon and Prince Bola Ajibola (CFR) of Nigeria headed their respective delegations.

2. The Mixed Commission welcomes the tripartite summit between Presidents Paul Biya and Olusegun Obasanjo and the United Nations Secretary-General, which was held in Geneva on 11 May 2005, and the renewed trust bestowed on it by the two Heads of State and the Secretary-General on that occasion.

3. The Mixed Commission considered and adopted the report of the 11th meeting of the Sub-Commission on Demarcation. It welcomes the progress made by the Joint Technical Team of the Sub-Commission on Demarcation and the decision to continue the actual field assessment of the boundary as of October 2005.

4. The Mixed Commission considered and adopted the reports of the Observer Personnel on their visits to the Lake Chad area from 16-18 December 2004 and 24-25 February 2005, as well as the reports on their visits to the Land Boundary from 22-23 November 2004, 24-25 February and from 13-15 June 2005.

5.     The Mixed Commission noted with satisfaction the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the Lake Chad and Land Boundary areas one year after the withdrawals and transfers of authority that occurred there as well as the good relations existing between the populations and the new authorities.

6. The Mixed Commission decided that the Observer Personnel would continue their regular visits to the land boundary to observe the situation in villages affected by the decision of the ICJ, including the demarcation.

7. The Observer Team of the Mixed Commission set up to shed light on the incident that occurred in Bakassi Peninsula in June 2005, an issue noted by Cameroon, informed the Mixed Commission that its report will soon be ready. The Mixed Commission decided that the report, when submitted, will be forwarded by the Chairman of the Mixed Commission to the Heads of State of both countries and the United Nations Secretary-General.

8. The Mixed Commission noted that progress had been made in implementing confidence-building measures and that both countries had participated in meetings on the rehabilitation of the Enugu-Abakaliki-Mamfe- Mutengene road and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. 

9. The Mixed Commission, in its consideration on the progress on demarcation of the land boundary, invited the British High Commissioner in Cameroon in his capacity as representing the Presidency of the European Union, to thank him for the support of his country. The Mixed Commission requested the support of the Government of his country for the joint application of Cameroon and Nigeria for funding by the European Union for the demarcation activities.

10. The Chairman of the Mixed Commission informed the two Parties that he had examined their proposals concerning the methodology of the implementation of the ICJ judgment, including a map incorporating the delineation of the maritime boundary as delimited by the Court. He read out the content of his letter of 29 November 2004 underscoring the points of agreement between the Parties on this issue. No objections were raised by the two Parties. He had directed the United Nations expert to propose a map. The Mixed Commission decided that the United Nations expert will present the proposal to the next meeting of the Working Group on the Maritime Boundary.

11. The Mixed Commission decided to set up a Working Group to draft a new programme of withdrawal of Nigerian troops and authorities from the Bakassi Peninsula and to submit its recommendations to the Heads of both delegations prior to the 14th meeting of the Mixed Commission, which will submit these to both Heads of State and the United Nations Secretary-General.  Each Party will communicate to the United Nations the names of its four members of this Working Group.

12. The 14th meeting of the Mixed Commission will be held in Abuja from 13 to 14 October 2005 with the possibility of an extension until 15 October 2005.