Originally subject to a border conflict between Cameroon and Nigeria, Bakassi later became affected by insurgencies waged by local separatists against Cameroonian government forces.

In 1994 Cameroon went to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to avoid war with Nigeria after many armed clashes occurred in the disputed regions.

In June 2006 Nigeria signed the Greentree Agreement, which marked the formal transfer of authority in the region, and the Nigerian Army partly withdrew from Bakassi.

One of the resultant disputes was in the Bakassi Peninsula, an area with large oil and gas reserves,[5] which had been de facto administered by Nigeria.

[7][8] The dispute was not a major issue between the two countries until the Nigerian President, Yakubu Gowon, was overthrown by General Murtala Mohammed in July 1975.

The situation almost led to a full-scale war, but President Shehu Shagari's diplomacy played a crucial role in preventing further conflict, even after Nigerian soldiers had been stationed at the Cameroonian border.

[11] Another incident occurred on 13 May 1989 when Nigerian soldiers boarded and inspected a Cameroonian fishing boat close to Lake Chad.

[11] Despite years of negotiations between the two countries, their relations became worse after Nigerian soldiers occupied Jabane and Diamond Island in the Bakassi Peninsula on 17 November 1993.

[1] Soon thereafter Nigeria accused the Cameroonian Army of having launched incursions into Bakassi and in response sent 500–1,000 soldiers to protect its citizens on the peninsula in December.

On 17 February 1994, the Nigeria-occupied territory close to Lake Chad received 3,000 refugees from the village of Karena after they fled from a violent crackdown by the Cameroonians.

Soon after another incident was reported close to the Cameroon–Nigeria frontier; Cameroonian gendarmes attacked the village of Abana in Cross River State over the border, killing 6 people and sinking 14 fishing boats.

[16] On 18–19 February, Nigerian forces attacked the Cameroonians and occupied now the full peninsula including the villages of Akwa,[17] Archibong, Atabong, and Kawa Bana.

[20] In early August 1995 heavy fighting took place, and local sources claim that 30 people were killed; this was never officially confirmed.

[28][29] An agreement was signed to start demarcating the entire Nigerian-Cameroonian border; owing to contradicting reference points from colonial maps, as of February 2021, this process has yet to be completed.

[28] René Claude Meka, the Cameroon Chief of Staff, was tasked with securing the territory by deploying the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR).

They used pirate tactics in their struggle: attacking ships, kidnapping sailors and carrying out seaborne raids on targets as far away as Limbe and Douala.

[23] Nigeria also faced insurgent attacks, as rebels in the southern part of the country were fiercely opposed to the border change.

[31] In October 2008 a militant group known as the Bakassi Freedom Fighters (BFF) boarded a ship and took its crew hostage, threatening to execute them unless the Cameroon government agreed to negotiate on Bakassian independence.

[23] The BFF refused to surrender; joining forces with militants in the Niger Delta, they declared that they would destroy the local economy.

[43] On 15 August 2013 the Cameroon government gained full sovereignty over Bakassi and the residents had to pay their first taxes after a 5-year tax-free transition.

[48] Most remaining separatists, including the Bakassi Freedom Fighters (BFF) under "Commander Ebi Dari", ultimately joined the Nigerian amnesty program and put down their weapons.

According to the state government, Cameroonian soldiers subsequently moved into Abana and arrested 15 people suspected of having participated in the killings.

[56] In January 2021, the Biafra Nations League (BNL) complained that some of its members as well as pro-Ambazonian activists had been arrested and tortured by Cameroonian soldiers, both in Bakassi and on Nigerian territory.

[57] A few months later, the group declared that it would not allow Cameroon to keep control of Bakassi, and claimed that several local militias on the peninsula were loyal to the Biafran cause.

The BNL leadership argued that the growing insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria would allow Biafran loyalists to capture Bakassi, and threatened to launch pirate raids in the nearby waters.

[50] On 8 November 2021, the BNL took control of a border crossing between Akpabuyo and Bakassi, blocking the road leading to the peninsula and raising the Biafran flag.

[63] Soon after, Cameroon claimed that its Rapid Intervention Battalion had captured BNL commander Henry Edet at Atabong East in Bakassi.

[65] In response, Black Marine carried out a raid against a joint Nigerian-Cameroonian patrol at the border, using a speedboat to throw explosives at soldiers and killing four.

[72] On 18 November 2023 militants suspected to be Black marine bombed a prison allowing 15 to escape while leaving 12 Cameroon gendarme s dead in Idabato Subdivision, however no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

[79] In January 2024, due to increased attacks on Bakassi by Biafran militants there was a protest in Douala and Yaounde and BnL started taking down foreign flags despite the efforts by Cameroon and Nigerian forces.