A’Ibom Group Backs Lagos–Calabar Highway, Rejects Claims Of Opposition

…Says Caution Notice Warned Against Land Racketeering, Not Development

The Ekid ethnic group in Akwa Ibom State has distanced itself from claims that it opposes the construction of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway.

The group’s position followed recent remarks by Governor Umo Eno, who expressed anger over allegations that Ekid people had vowed to stop the ongoing construction of the coastal highway through the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve.

The group insisted that it supports the project and is not working to obstruct federal government development efforts.

While commissioning a health centre in Esit Urua, the governor was quoted as saying:

“Make no mistake, this is the government. I have seen a caveat emptor and a letter from the Federal Ministry of Works concerning the Stubbs Creek Reserve. Nobody will stop that project; it’s a government reserve.”

However, in an open letter addressed to the governor and made available to journalists in Uyo on Sunday, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ekid people, Chief Nduese Essien, described the narrative portraying the group as anti-development as misleading.

According to Essien, the caveat issued by the Ekid People’s Union was not intended to halt the coastal highway or any government-backed project.

“The caveat issued by the Ekid People’s Union was not a call to stop development. It was a warning to private investors that illegal land racketeering was ongoing within the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve and that ancestral land was being allocated without consultation, consent, or compensation,” he stated.

Essien said comments credited to the governor during the commissioning ceremony, which were directed at the Ekid people and the leadership of the Ekid People’s Union, were deeply hurtful.

“We have resisted the temptation to respond with anger or recrimination. Instead, we have reflected deeply and chosen to believe that the governor’s outburst may have been caused by the pressures of office, the exigencies of governance, and the heavy burden that leadership places on those who carry it,” the letter read.

The Ekid leadership said the open letter was necessary to correct misconceptions and restate its position with what it described as “clarity and restraint,” in order to allow for a lawful and amicable resolution of issues surrounding the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve.

Reaffirming the group’s stance, Essien stressed that the Ekid people are not opposed to development in any form.

“Ekid people are not opposed to development. This must be stated clearly and repeatedly, because it lies at the heart of the current misunderstanding.

“We desire development in all its forms. We want roads, hospitals, schools, industries, and opportunities for our young people, just like every other community in Akwa Ibom State,” he said.

However, he noted that the group rejects approaches to development that sideline host communities and bypass established legal procedures.

“What we oppose is a model of development that treats host communities as inconveniences, that circumvents the law, and that ignores history and culture. Insisting on due process in land acquisition is not hostility; it is a legitimate demand grounded in law and citizenship,” the letter concluded.

A’Ibom Group Backs Lagos–Calabar Highway, Rejects Claims Of Opposition is first published on The Whistler Newspaper