TheCable

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has asked states to work towards resolving dispute over lands at border areas without allowing such matters lead to violence.

He said this on Monday when he met with deputy governors to discuss the act establishing the National Boundary Commission (NBC).

The vice-president said it became necessary to convene the meeting to enable all stakeholders on land issues understand the roles they must play to ensure that such dispute doesn’t result in violence.

Osinbajo, who is also the chairman of the commission, said the meeting was not to address any dispute in particular, but for the stakeholders to work on measures to address land issues without “political interference”.

“The idea of this meeting is to discuss the act, inter-state rancour and various misunderstandings which the commission from time to time deals with, with the stakeholders,” he said.

“For instance, we would jointly review the works of the commission. We cannot stress this enough that land is an emotive issue; most times, fatalities evolve from land disputes.

“There has to be an understanding of who has access to land because in some cases, these are tied to ancestors. But these issues should not result in violence. In some cases, resolving these disputes can only be done at the highest levels of governance.

“Let me remind us that we are not here to resolve any particular state’s border crisis. But perhaps, this meeting will review how disputes can be settled without political interference, because very often, when politicians play games with lands, it results in creating tensions.”

The NBC, established in 1990, is responsible for controlling the activities at the borders Nigeria shares with other countries, including forestalling the inflow of contraband and illegal materials into the country.

The commission is also responsible for resolving issues involving states, local governments and communities that share borders.