CAMEROON-NIGERIA MIXED COMMISSION MEETINGS

Final Communiqués

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2nd Special Meeting

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COMMUNIQUÉ ADOPTED AT THE SECOND SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE CAMEROON-NIGERIA MIXED COMMISSION

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Yaounde, 1 December 2003

1. Paragraph 13 of the Communiqué of the first meeting of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission held in Yaoundé from 1-2 December 2002 stated: “The Mixed Commission decided that henceforth it shall meet on the first Tuesday every two months, on the understanding that it may adjust the timing of each particular meeting, should circumstances so require.  Special meetings of the Commission may be convened, if necessary, by the Chairman of the Commission upon consultation with the members of the Commission.”

2. The Mixed Commission convened its first special meeting on 28 October 2003 in Abuja.  The purpose of the meeting was to establish the Working Group on the withdrawal of civil administration and military and police forces and the transfer of authority in the Lake Chad area, and to adopt its Terms of Reference. The Working Group’s mandate is to implement the decisions of the Mixed Commission pertaining to the withdrawal from the Lake Chad area as per its Working Calendar.

3. The Mixed Commission convened its second special meeting on 1st December 2003, in Yaounde in order to consider and adopt the Integrated Concept of Operation for the Withdrawal and Transfer of Authority in the Lake Chad area.

4. The Mixed Commission considered and approved the Report of the third meeting of the Working Group on the withdrawal of civil administration and military and police forces and the transfer of authority in the Lake Chad area.  The Report includes the Integrated Concept of Operation  mentioned in paragraph 3 above.  The Report also refers to the establishment of the Implementation Team mandated to carry out the operations related to the withdrawal and transfer of authority.

5. The Mixed Commission agreed that the withdrawal and transfer of authority in the Lake Chad area will take place from 8 to 21 December 2003. It agreed to organize an official ceremony on 16 December 2003.

6. The Mixed Commission agreed that it should remain seized with the follow up of the developments related to the withdrawal and handover in the area for a period of one year.

7. The Mixed Commission agreed that the observer personnel will conduct regular visits in the area and will provide it with a report one month after the  final handover and thereafter on a quarterly basis as well as with a final report at the end of one year.

8. As part of confidence building measures, the Mixed Commission recommended that the Cameroon-Nigeria Joint Commission (CNJC) meet every year instead of every two years.  It also recommended the creation within this  CNJC  of a Sub-committee on cross-border security cooperation.