The Senate has summoned the Director General of the National Boundary Commission, Adamu Adaji over the partition between Edo and Kogi States particularly the Okpella-Okene portion.
The summon followed a petition by Counsel to Edo state, Ayuba Giwa brought before the Senate Committee on Ethics Privileges and Public Petitions.
The border crisis which had escalated due to the battle to collect revenues in the affected areas along the Okene/Okpilla/Ogori axis for decades by the community leaders and youths, has claimed several lives over the years while property estimated at over millions of naira had been destroyed.
Giwa, in defense of his petition, said that the boundary had long been settled, until a recent disagreement by the Kogi neighbours, leading to loss of lives and properties.
“For hundreds of years, the people of these two communities, Okpella and the Ebiras have known their boundary and respected it. To justify this, in 1937, the colonial masters issued an intelligence report confirming this boundary.
“In 1954, the colonial government issued a legal notice defining these boundaries in clear terms. All of a sudden, the boundary became contentious, particularly on the path of our Ebira neigbours, and they insisted that the legal boundary should be abandoned for no reason,” he said.
The House committee resolved to summon the DG of National Boundary Commission, describing his absence despite invitation as a disrespect to the senate.
The Chairman of the committee, Sen. Ayo Akinyelure said “it is a disrespect to the institution of the senate for you to be invited for this sensitive issue that is costing lives and properties in your domain, and you hold a position of office to give clarifications, you never even bother to even write a letter to this committee on reasons for your absence. It is a disrespect to the institution of the National Assembly.”
He urged the DG to be present at the next adjourned date.
