Posted by The Guardian on
The Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS), General Martin Luther Agwai, has confirmed that Nigeria would begin a gradual withdrawal from the disputed Bakassi Peninsula this week.
The Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS), General Martin Luther Agwai, has confirmed that Nigeria would begin a gradual withdrawal from the disputed Bakassi Peninsula this week. The first phase of the withdrawal, he said would involve those he called non-essential elements, while complete withdrawal would be achieved by the end of August, this year.
Addressing officers and men of the 3RD Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army at the Maxwell Khobe Cantonment in Jos, the Defence Chief also warned the soldiers against open political partisanship ahead of the 2007 elections.
The visit by Agwai, who is the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, (COAS), he said, was to thank the soldiers for their co-operation as well as solicit their support for his successor. For him, the planned withdrawal from Bakassi was in consonance with Nigeria's commitment towards respecting international conventions and the rule of law. The Defence Chief lauded the vision and courage of President Olusegun Obasanjo for doing the right thing, because, "the Court says it doesn't belong to us, so we pull out. But the good thing is that, there are lots of lands between the boundary of Nigeria and Cameroun that the Court also says did not belong to the Cameroon but to us and have been given back to Nigeria.''