152 Borders without belonging: statelessness, displacement, and human insecurity in post-han- Data was collected through academic literature, and media reports. Primary sources include the 2002 International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment, the Greentree Agreement, UNHCR and UN reports, and relevant bilateral agreements between Nigeria and Cameroon (ICJ 2002a; UN 2008; Cameroon Multi-Country Office (2017). Scholarly studies such as Bonchuk (2014), Hart (2022), and Ngalim (2016) provide critical insight into the structural and institutional dimensions of the conflict, while news articles and investigative journalism (e.g., BBC 2013; Unah 2021) offer perspectives on the lived experiences of displaced residents. The analysis employs critical discourse analysis (CDA) to explore how legal, state, and media narratives construct exclusionary notions of citizenship and sovereignty. This is complemented by documentary analysis to trace inconsistencies between legal resolutions and ground-level implementation. Particular attention is paid to representations of displacement, gendered vulnerabilities, and the marginalization of local voices in decision-making processes. Given the reliance on secondary sources, the study did not require formal ethical approval. However, care was taken to ethically represent displaced and stateless populations, and to avoid reifying state-centric narratives. All materials are cited appropriately, and cross-referencing was used to enhance source reliability and analytical depth. A key limitation is the absence of direct fieldwork, which restricts access to first hand testimonies and may limit contextual nuance. Nevertheless, the triangulation of multiple data sources ensures a rich, multi-scalar analysis of how law, politics, and identity intersect in the post-conflict governance of Bakassi. Results and Findings This section presents the main findings of the study, organized around core themes that emerged from document analysis, policy reviews, and secondary data on the Bakassi Peninsula conflict. The themes shed light on how the legal resolution of the Bakassi dispute, far from ending the crisis, contributed to new forms of statelessness, militarization, and institutional abandonment in both Nigeria and Cameroon. Brazilian Journal of African Studies | Porto Alegre | v. 10, n. 19, Jan./Jun. 2025 | p. 144-169