Ibeno Elders caution Eket, Esit Eket communities over protests against development projects

Tony Okoh, Uyo

Ibeno Elders Council has accused their neighboring Eket and Esit Eket community interests of frustrating major development projects in Akwa Ibom State through persistent petitions and protests, warning that the disputes could undermine investment, employment generation and critical infrastructure.

Spokesman of the Council, Barrister Diamond Akpanika, who addressed journalists in Upenekang, Ibeno Local Government Area, on Sunday, cited controversies surrounding the proposed BUA Refinery, fertiliser plant, Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, East-West Road Section Five and the proposed naval base as instances of projects allegedly affected by such actions.

Akpanika recalled that in August 2021, representatives of Itid Afigh Ekid Union reportedly issued a quit notice to BUA Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, claiming ownership of the proposed refinery site and demanding that the investors withdraw from agreements with Ibeno Local Government Area.

He said the Ekid People’s Union (EPU), subsequently led by Dr. Samuel Udonsak, also petitioned the Akwa Ibom State Government and its Land Use Allocation Committee over the allocation of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve for the refinery project.

According to him, the union further challenged the establishment of a separate Petroleum Industry Act Host Community Development Trust Fund for Ibeno in 2022 and questioned the administrative listing of some settlements.

He said the disagreements persisted between 2023 and 2025, with protests by Eket and Esit Eket stakeholders alleging appropriation of ancestral lands and their allocation to private investors without their consent.

Akpanika also recalled Governor Umo Eno’s public complaint that petitions to the Bank of Agriculture had stalled a proposed fertiliser company that could have generated employment opportunities for Akwa Ibom indigenes.

He expressed concern over reported opposition to the proposed Air Force base at the former Mobil airstrip in Eket, warning that persistent disputes could discourage investors and deprive the state of economic and social benefits.

On the proposed naval base in Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, the Ibeno elders’ spokesman commended Governor Eno for supporting the initiative, describing the coastal location as strategic to maritime security, protection of fishing communities and economic development.

Reacting to a publication in The Morning Report of October 27, 2026, titled “CSO Seeks Review of Naval Base in Akwa Ibom Reserve,” Akpanika disputed the inclusion of Eket among the local government areas hosting the forest reserve, insisting that the claim was historically inaccurate and unsupported by documentary evidence.

He maintained that the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve Ordinance of 1935 and its Amending Order of 1956 identified Ibeno and Mbo as the principal communities whose lands constituted the reserve.

He explained that the reserve derived its name from Stubbs Creek in Upenekang, adding that a portion of land at Ntak Inyang in present-day Esit Eket was subsequently acquired and incorporated into the reserve around 1945.

He estimated that about 70 per cent of the reserve fell within Ibeno’s traditional territory.

Akpanika further argued that Eket Local Government Area had no land within the reserve under the original ordinance, subsequent amendment or any documented acquisition, gazette or royalty record.

He said the 1916 Privy Council judgment frequently cited in the ownership controversy concerned a dispute between Mkpanak and Upenekang, both Ibeno communities, and could not be relied upon to establish Eket’s ownership of the reserve.

To substantiate the Council’s position, he cited royalty payment receipts issued by the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation between 1945 and 1965, original forest reserve maps, survey plans domiciled with the Forestry Department and colonial correspondence indicating that compensation and consultations were undertaken with Ibeno and Mbo chiefs.

He challenged those disputing the Council’s position to produce verifiable documentary evidence through the appropriate government institutions.

The spokesman also criticised a reported petition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAPPDRR), led by Emem Edoho, seeking a review of the proposed naval facility.

Describing the NGO’s action as “morally hyperactive,” Akpanika questioned the rationale behind opposing a government initiative he said could deliver economic and social benefits to coastal communities.

He insisted that environmental advocacy should promote constructive engagement rather than frustrate development, warning that individuals and organisations without a mandate from Ibeno should not claim to speak for the community or determine its future.

Akpanika also described the reported acknowledgement by some Eket interests that part of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve lies within Ibeno as a departure from what he called decades of disputed historical claims.

“It is somehow rewarding to live to see a day when an Eket man finally admits that part of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve lies in Ibeno. But the real truth, which has been obscured for many years, is that the larger swathe of the forest reserve is in Ibeno Local Government Area,” he said.

He urged traditional institutions, residents and other stakeholders to support the proposed naval facility, while encouraging parties with legitimate grievances to pursue them through established legal channels rather than allow historical disagreements to undermine development opportunities in Akwa Ibom State.