Vanished landmarks and community resistance delay Edo-Kogi boundary settlement

The boundary between Nigeria’s Edo and Kogi states remains unresolved because historical landmarks have disappeared, communities contest the proposed line and stakeholders have presented documents requiring further examination, National Boundary Commission Director-General Adamu Adaji said. Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, Adaji said technical and administrative work had produced an approved boundary line for Edo and Kogi. However, efforts to mark the line physically faced resistance from communities along the corridor.

The boundary was defined under Legal Notice No. 126 of 1954, which established the division between the former Northern and Western Regions. Adaji said some physical features identified in the document no longer existed, making it difficult for experts to trace the historic line accurately.

The commission had considered claims by both states and produced a line regarded as the boundary between them. The Internal Boundary Committee subsequently approved it for physical demarcation. When a contractor began the work, communities objected that the proposed line did not match their understanding of the boundary.

Further discussions were held earlier in the year, but some parties did not provide full cooperation and submitted court judgments and other documents that the commission had not previously seen. Adaji said the commission must examine those materials before reaching a common understanding. The dispute includes the Ogori-Ekpedo, Okene-Okpella and Ake areas, as well as farmland issues involving communities in Edo and Kogi.

Adaji said the demarcation process remained active and would begin when resources were available. The commission has made more progress on the Abia-Anambra boundary. Of its 23-kilometre length, the two states have agreed on 15 kilometres, leaving about eight kilometres unresolved.

Fieldwork is expected to resume after meetings in July, with the possibility of first recording the competing claims before identifying one final line. Adaji urged state and local governments, traditional institutions and communities to cooperate. He said boundaries were primarily administrative and that people should retain property rights regardless of which state ultimately administers their location.