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How to tackle Ebonyi, C’River boundary dispute, by Nnachi

Senator Michael Ama Nnachi represents Ebonyi South Senatorial District at the National Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He speaks with CHUKWU DAVID on the recent violent communal crisis between boundary communities in Ebonyi and Cross River states and the intervention of the Senate to resolve the problem via his motion

Shortly before the National Assembly went on its 2020 annual recess, you brought a motion to the floor of the Senate on the violent conflict between some border communities in Ebonyi and Cross River states, which led to loss of lives and property. What actually transpired, and what was the decision of the apex chamber on the matter?

Yes, the problem is that recently, in a village within my local government, some people from a neighbouring village in Cross River State laid ambush, killed a husband and wife and abducted five other people and their whereabouts is not known up till now.

But it is pertinent for me to point out that the communities of Erei of Cross River State and Ekoli Edda of Ebonyi State have lived together peacefully for decades. It is also important for you and indeed Nigerians to know that the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) has a farm settlement in which the land mass cut across the boundaries of these two communities in Ebonyi and Cross River states. However, NIFOR has long abandoned the farm settlement without clear demarcation as to which part of the land belongs to a particular community/state.

Then, the landlord/ neighbouring communities, Erei, Ekoli and Okoni Ohafia in Abia State, in 2001 entered into a peace accord communally, to be farming and harvesting the oil palm, pending when the National Boundary Commission will demarcate the boundary between the states. But till today, nothing has been done by the National Boundary Commission in respect of demarcating the boundaries, which has resulted in conflict between the states, particularly between Ebonyi and Cross River states.

Now, this accord which was entered into in 2001 at Amangbala village square lasted until the sale of part of the land by Egboni village without the consent of the landlord villages. This delayed action has resulted in frequent clashes between the other two communities, Erei and Ekoli Edda and spilled over to Egboni village in Cross River.

As a result of this everything has gone viral and almost getting out of hand. The sad news here is that on 30th June, 2020, gunmen from Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State attacked some persons at Erei Palm Plantation located at the boundary between Ekoli Edda in Afikpo South Local Government Area, killed two persons and abducted five others as I earlier stated. Their whereabouts is still unknown till date and my concern is that if nothing is done urgently, the resultant effect might lead to more loss of lives and property in the warring communities.

How exactly do you want the Senate to intervene on the matter?

I brought the motion, calling on the Senate to direct the National Boundary Commission to wade into the matter immediately to resolve the conflict on sustainable basis through appropriate boundary delineation between Cross River and Ebonyi states. I also raised another prayer, that the Senate should mandate its Committee on States and Local Governments to investigate and unravel the root causes of the incessant clashes, killings, and destruction of property between the two states. The violent clashes are becoming rampant. Last year, it also happened there, and this one just happened this year. So, the motive of the motion is for the relevant authorities to wade into the matter, so that it will stop. If the root causes are discovered and addressed, I believe that it will stop, and there will be peace in the area. But if the Boundary Commission fails to do its work in this regard, there won’t be solution to the menacing problem in the area.

Do you think that the political leaders from the two states and affected communities will allow peace to reign even after boundary delineation because there appears to be a political undertone in the boundary crisis?

I don’t think there is any political issue among political leaders from the two states. I just see it as a land dispute which is not peculiar to Ebonyi and Cross River states. You know there are lots of palm trees in the land area where this crisis usually breaks out. You are also aware that people value economic trees a lot because of the economic benefits they derive from them, and so they can go to any extent in claiming the land and the economic trees therein. People harvest palm fronds and palm kennel from which palm oil is produced, and you know that these are products of high economic value to the people. That palm plantation was established during the time of Michael Okpara, and it was abandoned for long. So, it has been seen as no man’s land. For this reason, people were going there freely to get the produce without any interruption. Unfortunately, all of a sudden, that peaceful co-existence that made it possible for them to go to the plantation and get what they wanted vanished, as some people started laying claim that it belongs to them more than the other people. I think that’s the problem, and not any political acrimony between the political leaders of the two states and the immediate communities involved.

How soon do you want the Boundary Commission to intervene, so that peace will reign in the area?

My motion is that they should go immediately. I also requested that the Senate Committee on States and Local Governments should go and investigate and unravel the root causes of the incessant clashes, killings, and destruction of property between the two states and report to the chamber within two weeks for further legislative action. That means that I don’t want any more delay in the crisis; I want immediate intervention so that peace will return to the area, and the neighbouring communities will start living together again as one.

Resolutions of the parliament do not have force of the law, how are you going to persuade the Boundary Commission to act on the matter expeditiously?

I don’t agree with you that resolutions of parliament do not have force of the law because the main duty of the Boundary Commission is to delineate, which is also part of making peace. Again, any motion or resolution of the National Assembly goes with oversight.

So, there is no way we will keep quiet if they don’t do what we ask them to do. Remember that the Senate is the highest lawmaking body in the country and we are representing Nigerians. So, there is no branch of government that has the right or power to disregard resolutions of the parliament. The Senate Committee assigned to take up the responsibility will definitely go and find out what has been done and if nothing was done, they will also not keep quiet. There are usually allocations provided in the annual budget for the Boundary Commission to do its work.

So, if they fail to carry out their responsibilities such as the one captured in my motion, they will be made to explain what they used their allocations for. Therefore, to answer your question directly, oversight is the instrument that the Senate uses to ensure that its resolutions are carried out by the executive, and it will be applied in this case so that peace will return to the troubled area.

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