Abstract
This article examines the role of international law in the settlement of the Nigeria-Cameroon Bakassi Peninsula conflict. Human rights problems emerged in Nigeria following the implementation of the International Court of Justice judgment that ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. The implementation of international law aggravated structural violence through the displacement of Bakassi people from their homeland and their exposure to vulnerability and poverty. International law is insufficiently developed and limited in its capacity to address the settlement of territorial conflicts beyond the cessation of armed conflict between rival states. This paper recommends that international law and its implementation by states should accord primacy to the well-being of people over territory by promoting a transparent, effective, and accountable system for ensuring full and proper implementation of the human rights and resettlement obligations of governments.