IPCR VISITS EBONYI, SEEKS PEACEFUL BOUNDARY DELINEATION WITH CROSS RIVER
REPORTER: AMECHI ODO
The Federal Government says it is interfacing with warring communities along contentious boundary lines between Ebonyi and Cross River States on the need to embrace peace for the delineation of the area.
The Director General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution Abuja, Dr. Bakut Sawa Bakut, stated this during a courtesy visit to the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Kelechi Igwe.
The intractable boundary conflict involves the people of Amagu Community in Ikwo Local Government Area, Enyigba in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Adadama in Abi Local Government Area and the people of Yala and Obubura Local Government Areas all in Cross River State.
Until recently, the conflict has defied all efforts for peaceful coexistence, prompting Ebonyi and Cross River State Governments to approach the National Boundary Commission for the delineation of the contentious boundaries.
The Director General Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution Abuja, Dr. Bakut, explained that he was in the state to engage the warring communities in peace advocacy, to pave the way for the delineation of the boundary by the National Boundary Commission.
The Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, called on the Federal Government to revisit the Maman Nasir delineation report done on the contentious boundary line in 1975, emphasising that the exercise separated families and precipitated the conflict.
In an interview, the traditional rulers of Amagu Ikwo, Eze Dominic Alo; his counterparts of Enyigba Community in Abakaliki Local Government Area, Eze Michael Nwaobashi and that of Adadama in Abi Local Government Area, Eva Vincent Egbe, expressed their readiness to accept peaceful resolution of the conflict.