Peace at last: Benue, Taraba, Plateau reach agreement on boundary crisis

Benue, Taraba and Plateau states’ governments have reached a common ground to end the protracted dispute over their boundaries.

The resolution was reached in Abuja after the affected communities met to present a report of the 2019 meeting and matters of its implementation.
The interstate meeting which was organised by the National Boundary Commission (NBC), brought Benue State government officials led by the deputy governor, Engr. Benson Abounu and traditional rulers from Tiv ethnic nationality and the deputy governor of Taraba State, Engr. Haruna Manu and other delegates together to make peace.

While inaugurating the meeting, the director-general of NBC, Surveyor Adamu Adaji said both parties should “appreciate the commission’s mandate and discuss dispassionately with the aim of bringing lasting peace”.

The parties in a communique at the end of the meeting agreed that NBC demarcate the boundary in accordance with the 1923/1924 boundary line description and urged stakeholders to sensitise the affected communities on the need to cooperate with the NBC’s joint field team during the demarcation.

Other resolutions reached include that the Benue and Taraba interstate boundary shall further discuss at the Internal Boundary Technical Committee (IBTC) meeting before the demarcation exercise and notify the NBC not later than the end of April, 2022 of readiness for the demarcation to commence.

The resolution also stated that “A dispute management committee comprising of five members each from the States shall be constituted to resolve disputes that might arise in the course of the demarcation exercise and that the chairman of the commission, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria may be requested to write the governors of the two states for cooperation and support of the demarcation exercise”.