Nigeria and Cameroon have exchanged more than two-hundred prisoners of war held since clashes in 1996 over the disputed Bakassi Peninsula, which is thought to have substantial oil reserves.

The exchange, organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross, involved one-hundred and twenty-four Nigerians and eighty-seven Cameroonians.

Fighting in the Bakassi area first flared in 1994, and both countries now have a large military presence there.

The BBC Lagos correspondent says the prisoner release indicates a thaw in relations but that the real test will come when the World Court in the Hague eventually rules on the sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula.