Disputed forest reserve: A’Ibom oil community accuses CSO of fueling tension

Emmanuel Ekponta

The oil-producing communities of Ekid and Ibeno continue to clash over the ownership of the disputed Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve.

A member of the Ibeno Traditional Rulers Council, Chief Udofia Okon Udofia, has warned external parties to stay away from the matter.

Our correspondent gathered information about the civil society organisation, Open Forum Care for Humanity Foundation (OFCHF). The convener, Mr Matthew Koffi Okono, has been accused of meddling in the long-running land dispute. He is allegedly siding with the Ekid people.

However, Chief Udofia insisted that “Stubbs Creek belongs to Ibeno by history, law, and geography.”

Speaking on Sunday at Upenekang, headquarters of Ibeno Local Government Area, the traditional ruler—who also serves as Secretary of the Ibeno Clan Council (ICC)—cautioned the CSO against spreading what he described as “offensive propaganda.”

He warned that such actions will worsen tensions in the already volatile oil and gas region of Akwa Ibom State.

He called on the National Boundary Commission (NBC), the state government, and other relevant authorities to urgently step in to prevent the situation from escalating into ethnic conflict.

“The CSO led by Mr Okono, masquerading as a legitimate movement, is nothing but a desperate attempt by certain Ekid interests to rewrite history by provoking public sympathy through lies, theatrics, and manipulation.

“The CSO in question is not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and its activities have no legal standing.

“Ekid has failed, and will continue to fail to produce a single certified map, Court judgment, or official document proving any legitimate claim over Stubbs Creek Reserve Forest. Instead, they have resorted to using dubious fronts and unverified claims to spread falsehoods,” he stressed.

He recalled that “there was never a 1916 or 1918 Court ruling granting Stubbs Creek to Ekid. The cases they referred to were intra-Ibeno disputes over fishing rights, not land ownership.”

He noted that “no Court, including the British Privy Council, has ever handed Ekid ownership of Stubbs Creek. If such a ruling exists, we challenge them to present it to the public and the state government’s proposed peace committee.”

He faulted Ekid for citing the 1993 Akpata Commission as a basis for land ownership, describing the claim as both misleading and ignorant.

He said: “The report of that Commission was purely advisory and holds no legal weight or gazetted authority. No competent Nigerian Court has ever validated it as a legal basis for land ownership.

“From British maps dated as far back as 1893 to official Nigerian government gazettes, Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve lies firmly within Ibeno territory. The area’s geography, oil infrastructure, and administrative boundaries all support this.

“The Ibeno people have historically occupied and administered the stretch from Qua Iboe River to Atabrikang, including the Atlantic shoreline that forms the boundary with Stubbs Creek forest. Every credible map and legal instrument confirms this reality.

“Ekid’s latest tactics reveal their desperation. From dragging in religious groups, to engaging in libation rituals with so-called prophetesses like Princess Godknow’s Udoito, to attacking and killing, and later courting the Traditional Rulers Council — these antics only expose the absence of substance behind their claims.

“They’ve also tried to explore the political figures by accusing the governor of bias for not seizing land on their behalf — a demand that’s both illegal and provocative.

“Let it be clear that our patience is not weakness. We have remained peaceful in the face of provocation and incessant killings and brutality, but we will not allow our ancestral heritage to be trampled by opportunists.

“We call on the National Boundary Commission, state authorities, and relevant stakeholders to rely only on verifiable, pre-colonial and colonial-era documentation, not fabricated history spread by a fraudulent NGO with no CAC records”.