The National Boundary
Commission (NBC) says the interstate boundary crisis between communities in
Taraba and Benue would soon be over.
Acting
Director-General of the Commission, Adamu Adaji, made this known at the Joint
Meeting of officials on the Benue and Taraba inter-state boundary, on Thursday
in Abuja.
Adaji said Benue and
Taraba shared common cultural and historical antecedence, adding that boundary
conflict had created bad blood between them, saying that the boundary dispute
between Benue and Taraba dated back to 1976, when Gongola was created.
According to him, the
then Wukari Division, made up of Wukari, Takum and Donga Local Administrative
Areas were carved out of Benue and merged with Sardauna and Adamawa Provinces
to form the new state.
“The good news is that
the present administration, at both the Federal and State levels, are committed
and determine to bring the impasse to a permanent end.
“Between 1994 to 1997,
progress was made on tracing and demarcation of the boundary but was truncated
by crisis and security challenges. Same thing again happened between 2005 and
2008.
“NBC, Benue and Taraba
Government held several meetings and the Technical Committee comprising of
members from the Commission, Benue and Taraba brought out recommendations to
resolve the issues.
“Soon, the boundary
between Benue and Taraba will be demarcated with 200 main pillars which will be
done between February and June, 2020.
“The segment of the
boundary is categorised as a. Logo/Wukari and Ukum/Wukari sectors b.
Katsina-Ala/Wukari and c. Katsina-Ala/Takum sectors and finally Kwande/Takum
sector.
“We shall also
sensitise border communities to understand that demarcation is not to encourage
war but rather to indicate limits for administrative convenience,” Adaji said.