ABUJA -- Nigeria on Wednesday rejected a world court judgement which handed the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, stoking fears of armed conflict between the neighboring countries, AFP reported.

A statement released by the government insisted that it would not cede sovereignty of the region, and angrily accused Africa's former colonial rulers of interfering in the court's judgement.

"Being a nation ruled by law we are bound to continue to exercise jurisdiction over these areas in accordance with the Constitution," said the statement.

The statement was read out by Transport Minister Ojo Maduekwe after a cabinet meeting. It said the government had "substantially examined" the implications of the court's ruling.

In rejecting the judgement, President Olusegun Obasanjo appears to have broken a promise he made UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last month that Nigeria would respect whatever ruling was given.

On October 10, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague brought to an end an eight-year legal battle by awarding the 1,000 square kilometer (400 sq mile) peninsula to Cameroon.

The ruling, which the court based on a 1913 treaty between the region's then colonial powers, Britain and Germany triggered fury in Nigeria, where many suspect a European plot.

"For purely political reasons, the court, headed by a French president, upheld a legal position which is contrary to all known laws and conventions, thus legitimizing and promoting the interests of former colonial powers at our expense," it said.

"The French president of the court and the English and German judges should have disqualified themselves since the countries which they represent are, in essence, parties to the action or have substantial stakes," it continued.

French officials have dismissed the allegations, which surfaced in the Nigerian press following the ruling, insisting that the ICJ is independent and that France is neutral in the border dispute.

France took control of Germany's Cameroon territory after World War I. When Nigeria won independence from Britain and Cameroon from France the new countries adopted the colonial frontiers.

The people of Bakassi, however, regard themselves as members of the Calabar kingdom of southeastern Nigeria and their leaders have reacted with dismay and anger to the ruling.

Last week local leaders from peninsula told AFP that they would not accept the ruling and vowed to take up arms and secede from Nigeria if it agrees to cede their land to Cameroon.

Wednesday's statement addressed their concerns, vowing to protect their interests.

"On no account will Nigeria abandon her people and their interests. For Nigeria, it is not a matter of oil or natural resources on land or in coastal waters, it is a matter of the welfare and the well-being of her people on their land," it said.

Nigeria has a heavy military presence on a state of alert in the Bakassi area. At the weekend soldiers prevented journalists from traveling to the disputed region.

On September 5 Obasanjo sent to Paris to his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya and the United Nations' Annan. According to a UN statement, both leaders agreed to respect the ICJ's decision.