Cameroon-Nigeria: The right of pursuit 'ignored'

It was one of the most anticipated questions of the meeting between the presidents of Nigeria and Cameroon. After the working and friendly visit by Muhammadu Buhari in Yaounde, questions relative to the right of pursuit was called for. Did the two heads of state who occasionally “expressed their joint determination to eradicate Boko Haram" discuss this sensitive subject? Hard to say.

Although an analysis of the 22 points of the "joint communiqué" that surrounds the visit inclined to make a negative answer to this question, this was also the opinion of the expert in matters of security and defense, Raoul Sumo Tayo.

"If the problem of the right of pursuit had been raised, it would certainly have been mentioned in the joint statement," he said.

For this researcher, an agreement between Yaounde and Abuja on the right of pursuit had been advanced "more concretely" on the issue of the eradication of the terrorist threat of Boko Haram. This is because "it is frustrating for armed combats to have a constraint that its opponent did not. The border should not be in this case an obstacle," he explains.

To believe Raoul Sumo Tayo, "with the right of pursuit, Cameroon has benefited more since Nigeria is almost absent at the area adjacent to the front line. Especially Abuja has so far had no lethal means to come alone at the end of Boko Haram. It would have been good to grant this right but with care to clearly define its roles" says Tayo Sumo.

Asked about the same subject, the geostrategist Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode supports the point that "the fact that this joint statement does not mention the right of pursuit is proof that it avoiding sensitive subjects."

According to the academician, no agreement on this point "is neither bad nor good for Cameroon, since everyone has a responsibility to maintain peace within his territory. We can say that sovereignty took precedence over cooperation," he clarifies.

Obviously, it thus appears clearly that the aspect concerning security cooperation the two leaders have chosen - as confirmed in the joint statement - is a more enhanced intelligence sharing.