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The National Boundary Commission (NBC) has expressed worry over incessant loss of lives to the lingering interstate boundary dispute between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The Director-General of the commission, Mr Adamu Adaji, expressed the concern during stakeholders’ meeting to resolve the dispute in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said with regret, the valuable lives that had been lost over different perceptions and claims to the interstate boundary between Abia and Akwa Ibom state in the past.
The D-G called for peaceful and amicable resolution to the dispute, adding that the NBC was determined to chart a pathway in the ongoing efforts to clearly define the interstate boundary.
He said that the meeting was organised to find a lasting solution to the Abia and Akwa Ibom interstate boundary dispute.
Adaji expressed confidence that with strengthened collaboration between the states and the NBC, the security and well-being of the people would be assured.
This, he said, would create a path that would engender peace and progress for the states and the country.
He emphasized the need for people to know that boundary lines were established for administrative convenience.
Adaji added that the lines only meant to denote the limits of different administrative jurisdictions and not to separate communities from one another.
He described the interstate boundary as not just a line that separates two states, but a line that has bearing on the lives of the affected border communities with economic, legal and social implications.
Also speaking, Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom, Sen. Akon Eyakenyi, said that the stakeholders’ meeting was critical to resolving the boundary dispute between the two neighbouring states.
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