168 Borders without belonging: statelessness, displacement, and human insecurity in post-han- and Research 10(1). https://dj.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/JDSR/article/ view/565. Oke-Chinda, M. 2021. “Legal mechanisms for the effective protection of conflict-induced internally displaced women in Nigeria from sexual violence.” PhD diss., The University of Manchester. https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/ portalfiles/portal/224501288/FULL_TEXT.PDF. Otora, O. A. and Humanus Discourse. 2022. “Territorial imperatives and inter-state boundary conflicts in Nigeria.” Humanus Discourse 2(2): 1–17. http://dx. doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4001517. Oyewo, H. T. 2021. “Trapped in between: Statelessness in Bakassi Peninsula.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 26(12): 18–20. https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol.26-Issue12/Ser-7/D2612071820.pdf. Sheikh, T. L., et al. 2016. “Descriptive characterization of psycho-trauma, psychological distress, and post-traumatic stress disorder among children and adolescent internally displaced persons in Kaduna, Nigeria.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 7: 179. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00179. Taiwo, R. and Igwebuike, E. 2015. “Representation of Bakassi Peninsula conflict in Nigeria and Cameroon print media: A critical discourse approach.” Linguistik Online 72(3): 127–143. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo. oa?id=664573493008. Unah, L. 2021. “Corruption and blame game stalls progress: Nigeria: More than a decade after displacement, many Bakassi returnees remain homeless.” The Africa Report, April 13. https://www.theafricareport.com/77543/nigeria-more-than-a-decade-after-displacement-many-bakassi-returnees-remain-homeless/. United Nations. 2008. “Agreement transferring authority over Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon ‘triumph for the rule of law’, Secretary-General says in message for ceremony.” UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, August 14. https://press.un.org/en/2008/sgsm11745.doc.htm. 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 Brazilian Journal of African Studies | Porto Alegre | v. 10, n. 19, Jan./Jun. 2025 | p. 144-169