The Director General of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo told reporters in Abuja that the disputes involved communities, local governments and states.

According to him, delineating enumeration areas would be impossible in such areas as opposing camps battle for superior numerical figures.

To tackle the hitch and give Nigerians a reliable census figure, he said the commission was organising a summit of all stakeholders on the way out.

Among those expected at the summit, he said, are NBC, NPC and state deputy governors who are chairmen of states boundary boards.

He said the summit shall seek to resolve all disputes after examining the role each stakeholder will play during the census exercise."

For areas whose disputes the summit could not resolve before the census, Bobbo said NPC would be advised to post neutral enumerators for the head count there.

"The NPC shall only count the people there while the figure shall be kept in its custody, but not accredited to any of the contending areas," he said.

After the resolution of the dispute, NPC shall then add the figures to the party given the contending area," he explained.

According to Bobbo, the strategy is already being used for states currently locked in battles over oil wells.

He said money from such oil wells would be kept in an account until the conflict is resolved after which it shall be given to the warring states.

The director general cautioned communities against disrupting the census over any boundary dispute, and gave the assurance that such disputes would be resolved amicably.

Bobbo also spoke on the fate of villages along international boundaries as some were still being administered by Benin, and Niger.

He said: "For such villages awaiting hand over or take-over, we shall try to secure the political will to complete the process before the census, but where we cannot, there shall be a census in all villages under Nigeria even if they are said to be owned by another country.

"We shall also advise affected countries to conduct head counts on our own villages still under their administration.

"So, when the handing over is being done, we shall also collect the population figure and add to the affected states or communities, just as we shall surrender population figures to such neighbouring countries."