Bakassi Nigerians promised safety

Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, assured Nigerians occupying Cameroon's newly acquired region of Bakassi of their protection under the law in an address carried on Cameroonian radio and TV. 300,000 Nigerians occupy this region which Nigeria ceded to Cameroon honoring an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling which determined that Bakassi belonged to Cameroon. Bakassi had just been handed over to Cameroon, August 14th, and the President's statements were aimed at reassuring the Nigerians who make up 90% of the region's population that they wouldn't be harassed by Cameroon's security forces, be displaced nor lose their civil rights. Bakassi is a potentially oil rich peninsula which for a long period was the subject of haggling-over between Cameroon and Nigeria before the case of its ownership was taken to the ICJ which ruled that it should go to the former. The court's judgment was based on an early 20th century colonial agreement between Britain and Germany.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7576253.stm