The Federal Government has expressed concerns over the refusal of states to abide by legal instruments on boundary delineation, urging cooperation for effective and sustainable solutions to the benefit of all parties.
Director General of National Boundary Commission (NBC), Adamu Adaji, communicated the feeling yesterday in Abuja. He said: “Our international boundaries’ management is more complicated as international boundaries have treaties and agreements between two countries, such that no country can alter its international agreement without the participation of the other parties.”
The DG regretted the lack of cooperation by some states in the resolution of internal boundary disputes. Adaji noted: “Sometimes when the boundaries are based on colonial documents and these documents are not quite clear, some states took advantage of that to not want to cooperate.
“We have instances when some states, despite the facts that these documents are available, would want to refuse to abide by or respect it. We want them to see it as something binding.”
According to him, in some instances, the Federal Government has had cause to amend and define the boundary from the old one presented by the colonial masters as in the case of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) boundary and its neighbours.
He pleaded with states to cooperate with the Federal Government in ensuring that boundary issues are peacefully resolved.
