National Boundary Commission moves to settle Abia, Akwa Ibom dispute

<h2>The National Boundary Commission (NBC) began fresh moves in Abuja on Wednesday, July 18, 2023 to end the lingering boundary dispute between Abia and Akwa Ibom.</h2>, <p>Chairman of Abia Boundary Committee noted that cases involving boundary adjustment issues should be handled in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.</p>, <span>Some of the officials at a joint meeting with officials of Abia and Akwa Ibom to find lasting solution to the lingering boundary dispute between the states, in Abuja on Wednesday, July 18, 2023 (Credit: NAN)</span>, <p>It summoned officials of the two states to a roundtable where its Director-General, Mr Adamu Adaji, noted that earlier meetings did not yield the desired results. Adaji observed that that the boundary in dispute covered 275 kilometres in length between the old Cross River/Imo interstate boundary areas.</p>, <p>He added that the boundary has “tripoints’’ at Abia, Akwa Ibom and Cross River in the north and Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers in the south. A tripoint or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet.</p>, <p>Adaji explained that the Federal Government promulgated the Decree 23 of 1985 to adjust the boundary on the recommendations of the Kaloma Ali Boundary Ascertainment Commission, as a starting point of the boundary.</p>, <p>He noted, however, that the directives of the Federal Government for the boundary to be delineated and demarcated with the emplacement of permanent boundary pillars were not implemented.</p>, <p>“Since taking over the boundary definition process, the commission has carried out various inconclusive field tracing and provisional demarcation exercises on the boundary.</p>, <p>“The challenges have always been the dearth of clear delimitation instruments or the non-clarity of them where they exist.</p>, <p>“Other challenges include the deliberate efforts to misinterpret the documents by stakeholders or their failure to accept them.</p>, <p>“Fortunately, we have s