The coastal people of Akwa Ibom State have slammed the attempt by some selfish interests to politicise the mapping of the state with a law by the state House of Assembly, saying that the action was purely based on court rulings spanning years.
The group under the auspices of Coalition of Aboriginal Coastal Local Government Areas of Eket, Esit Eket, Onna, Mkpat Enin and Ikot Abasi, said in a statement released in Abuja yesterday that they were disturbed by the falsehood being introduced into an entirely legal procedure, which had led to the disturbance of public peace in parts of the state.
In the statement signed by the president general of the Ekid Nation, Dr Samuel Udonsak, the group warned those fanning the embers of crisis over the mapping of the state to be properly guided by both historical and legal facts and desist from causing avoidable trouble in the peaceful state.
Dr Udonsak said: “The leadership of the Coalition of Aboriginal Coastal LGAs of Eket, Esit Eket, Onna, Mkpat Enin and Ikot Abasi met to review the mapping of the state, the disturbances within its territory and the need to improve the security within its areas. The Coalition found the need to also address the unsuspecting public on the facts of our Littoral status and wish to state as follows.
“The Coalition thanks the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State Deacon Udom Emmanuel and the State Surveyor General for their courageous and bold step in giving Akwa Ibom State an official map since its creation, and believes that this would put an end to the irritating, chronic and perennial conflicts emanating from lack of official boundaries between some local governments in the state especially along our Atlantic coastline.
“ Akwa Ibom State has never been mapped before and we agree that this exercise is the constitutional responsibility of the state.”
The Coalition notes with disgust and utterly denunciates, and condemns the ugly violence and destruction of lives and property at Ikot Akpan Udo village in Ikot Abasi LGA, Coconut Plantation and the skirmishes at Esit Urua village, Eket LGA by Ibeno, Eastern Obolo and their Ijaw cohorts and mercenaries, against the peaceful aboriginal coastal communities. We call on Government to speedily restore order, bring all the perpetrators to book and increase their security presence in all the vulnerable aboriginal coastal communities.
“The coalition would like to inform the unsuspecting public, that the ownership of the entire coastline of AKS has been determined in perpetuity by various apex courts, some as far back as 1918.
“The 1916 Supreme Court Judgment confirmed the ownership of the entire (Stubbs Creek) swamp land east of Qua Iboe River to Eket people. Indeed between 1914-1918 the Supreme Court siting in Calabar, the West African Court of Appeal (WACA) and the Privy Council in London had decided that the entire coastal Area from the creek known as Stubbs Creek and the sea extending from the mouth of Qua Iboe River Eastward along the sea shore to Child point (Okposo II) belongs to the Ekets, to wit: Esit Eket and Eket Local Government Areas.
“An order/law of the then Eastern Nigerian House of Assembly as amended in 1955 establishing Stubbs Creek’s Forest Reserve spanning from big town in Ibeno Local Government through Edo, Uquo, Akpautong, OdoroNkit, and Ntak Inyang communities in Esit Eket Local Government Area with a map duly delineated, described and surveyed with beacon stones at strategic locations by then Eastern Regional Government of Nigeria in 1929 fully established the owners of each section and village of the Stubbs Creek.
“ In Suit No. HEK/108/2002 an Order of Court had expressly directed the Surveyor General of Akwa Ibom State to ‘produce map of Esit Eket local government area and Akwa Ibom State locating the village Ine Akpautong in its proper position in Esit Eket local government area’. Akwa Ibom State Government has only complied with this order by the just concluded mapping.”
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