Kjheoiueroi
JOHNSON BABAJIDE was at the scene of the perennial border dispute between two communities in Benue and Ebonyi states. He reports that implementation of the National Boundary Commission’s (NBC’s) reports on the disputed border between communities in the states remains only solution to their incessant crisis that often claims lives.
THE perennial crisis rocking the people of Agila in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State and their neighbours at Ngbo community of Ohukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State may take a long time before it is resolved.
The two bordered communities, according to investigation by Sunday Tribune, have been at loggerheads for almost a century, even as sources said that the crisis was daily assuming a dangerous dimension.
Following the occasional conflict between the bordered communities, the National Boundary Commission (NBC) in 2000, it was gathered, dabbled into the crisis, but the commission’s attempt at resolving the boundary dispute was allegedly disrupted by Ngbo people in Eboyin State.
In a report entitled, “An Update Report on Benue/Ebonyi Interstate Boundary” presented at the bilateral interstate boundary meeting at Abakaliki in Ebonyi State in March 2008, it was revealed that many Ezza, Izzi, Ngbo and Ishieke people of Ebonyi came to the disputed land of Agila in Benue State because of its agricultural potentials, thus making the part of Benue State losing huge farmland to Ebonyi State.
The report noted that in an attempt to find a solution to the boundary dispute, the colonial administration set the boundary and adjusted it several times, especially in the 1930s to favour the Ibos, alleging that while the other border communities respected the boundary, Agila/Ngbo people had been indifferent to it.
In the last two months, fighting had erupted in the disputed areas twice. In May this year, it was gathered that the Ngbo people invaded the Agila community and hoisted a flag of the defunct Biafra on the land as a
THE perennial crisis rocking the people of Agila in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State and their neighbours at Ngbo community of Ohukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State may take a long time before it is resolved.
The two bordered communities, according to investigation by Sunday Tribune, have been at loggerheads for almost a century, even as sources said that the crisis was daily assuming a dangerous dimension.
Following the occasional conflict between the bordered communities, the National Boundary Commission (NBC) in 2000, it was gathered, dabbled into the crisis, but the commission’s attempt at resolving the boundary dispute was allegedly disrupted by Ngbo people in Eboyin State.
In a report entitled, “An Update Report on Benue/Ebonyi Interstate Boundary” presented at the bilateral interstate boundary meeting at Abakaliki in Ebonyi State in March 2008, it was revealed that many Ezza, Izzi, Ngbo and Ishieke people of Ebonyi came to the disputed land of Agila in Benue State because of its agricultural potentials, thus making the part of Benue State losing huge farmland to Ebonyi State.
The report noted that in an attempt to find a solution to the boundary dispute, the colonial administration set the boundary and adjusted it several times, especially in the 1930s to favour the Ibos, alleging that while the other border communities respected the boundary, Agila/Ngbo people had been indifferent to it.
In the last two months, fighting had erupted in the disputed areas twice. In May this year, it was gathered that the Ngbo people invaded the Agila community and hoisted a flag of the defunct Biafra on the land as a