We will abide by Green Tree Agreement - 17/5/08

Cross River State has reiterated its commitment to cooperate with the United Nations (UN) in the implementation of the Green Tree Agreement on the peaceful handing over of Bakassi peninsula in August, 2008 to Cameroon.

Governor Liyel Imoke stated this when he received the UN Observer Team from the United Nations Office for West Africa led by the Senior Military Adviser, Brigadier Danilo Paiva, disclosing that the resettlement of Bakassi indigenes is receiving tremendous attention despite significant challenges associated with what he described as a new experience in the resettlement process.

Imoke expressed confidence that peace will be maintained in the area in consonance with the Green Tree Agreement reached in 2002 with the cooperation of the UN Observer Team.

The leader of the team, and Senior Military Advisor United Nations Office for West Africa Brigadier Danilo Paiva, said they had visited Bakassi Peninsula and are prepared to offer full cooperation with ECOWAS and care for Cross Border issues with the West African Sub Region.

The leader of the Nigerian delegation at the Nigeria- Cameroon Mixed Commission and Director General, Border Communities Development Commission ( Cross River) Mrs. Nella Andem Ewa said so far, the Maritime boundary bordering Nigeria and Cameroon had been resolved while resolution on the land boundary between the two countries is underway.

Ewa said UN is working into the development and management of Bakassi as partners in the resettlement process, having seen the agreement between Nigeria and Cameroon as a model of settling border issues which other countries in conflict should emulate.

The United Nations Observer Team, based in Dakar, Senegal is made up of foreign soldiers and nationals to monitor the process and progress of implementing the Green Tree Agreement as accepted by Nigeria and Cameroon.

Government House Press