NBC promises to resolve Abia/Akwa Ibom boundary dispute

The National Boundary Commission (NBC) has promised to resolve the boundary dispute between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

Director General of the body, Adamu Adaji, made the promise during a meeting on Abia/Akwa Ibom interstate boundary organised by the commission in Umuahia yesterday.

He said resolving the boundary crisis would help restore peace and economic growth in the affected areas in the two states.

Adaji lamented that the decisions and resolutions reached to demarcate the boundary by the previous governments had yielded little or no result.

The NBC chief said: “Since agreements on programmes are not promptly implemented within a timeframe, it could portend grave dangers and lead to waste of government scarce resources, time and energy.”

The commission said the journey towards the demarcation of the boundary started in 2013, regretting that no decisive decision had been taken.

“Fieldwork is stalled, and in turn affected the targeted date of completion. The affected communities in the two states should support the committees to enable both to actively participate in the exercise,” Adaji said

Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Abia State Boundary Committee, Sir Ude Chukwu, who spoke on behalf of the two states, urged the commission to settle all the lingering boundary issues.

He also said both states share common traditions, but lamented the boundary dispute.

He called on the communities along the disputed border to embrace peace, pledging the readiness of the two states to support the settlement of all boundary issues.

The deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Moses Ekpo, was at the meeting in which the Surveyor General of the Federation, Taiwo Adeniron, was represented by the Deputy Director, Internal Boundary, Duniya Joseph.