BOUNDARY CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES BETWEEN ADADAMA COMMUNITY IN CROSS RIVER STATE AND AMAGU COMMUNITY IN EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA, 1996-2018

Abstract

Thelcreationloflstateslandladministrativelsub-unitslaimedlatlfurtherldevelopinglrurallareaslin Nigeria lhas lgenerated lchallenges lincluding lethnic, lreligious, lintra land linter-state lboundary conflicts lover lland lownership land lusage, lmineral lresource lroyalties land lgrazing lrights lbetween lcontiguous lcommunities. lThese lconflicts lhave lresulted lin lloss lof llives, ldestruction lof lproperty land linternal ldisplacements. lStudies lon lNigeria’s linternal lboundaries lhave lexaminedltheirlorigins,ldynamicslandltheirlpoliticisation.lHowever,lstudieslonlstrategieslfor lboundary lconflicts lmanagement lis lscanty. lTherefore, lthis lstudy linvestigates lconflict lmanagement lstrategies lemployed land ltheir lchallenges lin lAdadama land lAmagu lcommunities.l Vasquez’slTerritoriallandlKieh’slPrimordiallConflictltheorieslservedlaslthelframework,lwhile lthe lcase lstudy ldesign lwas ladopted. lPrimary land lsecondary ldata lwere lutilised. lPrimary ldata lwere lsourced lfrom lkey linformant linterviews lconducted lwith l27 lpurposively lselected lindividuals land lstakeholder lgroups, lincluding lCommunity lleaders l(4), lWomen lleaders l(4), lYouthlleadersl(4),lSecuritylagentsl(2),lNational lBoundarylCommissionl(NBC)lofficialsl(3), lOffice lof lthe lSurveyor-General lof lthe lFederation l(2), lInstitute lfor lPeace land lConflict lResolution, lAbuja l(1), lCross lRiver lstate lgovernment l(1), lEbonyi lstate lgovernment lofficials l(2), lacademia l(2) land llegal lpractitioners l(2). lOne lfocus lgroup ldiscussion lwas lalso lheld lin leachlofltheltwolcommunities,lwhilelsecondaryldatalwerelsourcedlfromlrelevantlpublications. lDatalwerelcontent-analysed.l Boundary lconflicts lbetween lthe ltwo lcommunities lwere lcaused lby lpoor ldemarcation lof lthe lboundary lby lthe lNBC, lland lencroachments, lclimate lchange-induced lflooding, lland ldegradation land lpopulation lincrease. lThe lconsequences lof lthe lconflict lincluded: lthe lloss lof l62 llives lin lAdadama lcommunity land lclaim lby lAmagu lcommunity lof lloss lof lover lone lthousand llives, ldestruction lof lproperty, linternal ldisplacement lof lpersons, lretardation lof ldevelopment land lbreakdown lof linter-group lrelations. lThe lconflict lmanagement lstrategies lemployed lwere linstitutional land lindigenous. lThe linstitutional lstrategies lincluded ladministrative lMechanism lof ldemarcation lsuch las ljoint lmeeting lof lofficials lon lCross lRiver land lEbonyi linter-state lboundary lcommittee lset lup lby lNBC lto lidentify land lpropose lan lacceptable lborderline; linter-state land linter llocal lgovernment lpeace lcommittees lestablished ljointly lby lCross lRiver land lEbonyi lgovernments lto lfacilitate ldialogue land lpeaceful lcoexistence lbetween lthe ltwo lcommunities. lThe lindigenous lmechanism ldeveloped land lutilisedlbylAdadamalandlAmagulcommunitieslinvolvedlpaymentlofllevieslbylthelcommunity lof lan laggressor, ljoint loffering lof lsacrifices, lcultural land ltraditional lrites. lThe lindigenous lmechanisms lcomplimented lthe linstitutional lmechanisms lin lengendering lpeace land lstability lin lthe ltwo lcommunities. lHowever, lunyielding lnumber lof linterested lstakeholders, lrigid lpositionlofltheltwolcommunities,llacklofltrustlandlsabotagelamongstlthelcommunities’lruling leliteslconstitutedlthelmainlchallengesltoltheleffectivelmanagementloflthelboundarylconflict. Boundarylconflicts larelalmajorlsourceloflinsecurity,llossloflliveslandldestructionloflproperty linlNigerialaslobservedlinlthelAdadamalandlAmagulcommunities’lfroml1996-2018.lThelstudy ltherefore lrecommends lre-demarcation lof lthe lboundary lby lNational lBoundary lCommission las lwell las lhybriding lof lindigenous land linstitutional lstrategies lin lboundary lconflicts lmanagement.