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.
