BORDERS WITHOUT BELONGING: STATELESSNESS, DISPLACEMENT, AND HUMAN INSECURITY IN POST-HANDOVER BAKASSI

Abstract

This study investigates the enduring human security crisis in the Bakassi Peninsula following the 2002 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that transferred sovereignty from Nigeria to Cameroon. While the ruling resolved the legal dispute between the two nations, it created a protracted humanitarian emergency for thousands of Nigerians who remain stateless, undocumented, and marginalized in their ancestral homeland. The objective of this study is to critically examine the multidimensional challenges — legal, political, and existential — faced by the displaced Nigerian population in Bakassi and to analyze the institutional responses to their plight. Drawing on a qualitative methodology that combines policy analysis, secondary literature, the study situates the Bakassi crisis within the broader theoretical framework of human security. It contends that the securitization of territory without parallel protection for human lives has deepened the vulnerability of affected populations. Furthermore, the study highlights how forced assimilation, bureaucratic statelessness, and identity erasure have fostered insurgent responses and undermined regional stability. The study contributes to ongoing debates on postcolonial border governance, the limits of international adjudication, and the urgent need for rights-based approaches to conflict resolution in Africa.