Community Demands Independent Audit of Lagos‑Calabar Highway Compensation Register

The Association of Concerned Indigenes of Okoyong Community in Cross River State has raised an alarm over alleged fraudulent practices in the compensation process for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

In a petition to state security agencies, Ambassador Effiong Ekpo, president of the association and vice chairman of Eyo Ekpo Family, said the project’s Section 3A had destroyed farmlands, economic trees and ancestral lands belonging to indigenous families in Okoyong.

“Compensation was intended to mitigate these losses,” Ekpo stated. “However, the enumeration and compensation process has been grossly compromised.

“Hundreds of legitimate indigenous landowners, whose families have occupied these lands for generations, have been removed from the compensation register and replaced with non‑indigenous individuals with no ancestral ties to the Okoyong land.”

He added that some of the listed beneficiaries are political appointees and associates, allegedly aided by compromised traditional and political structures.

Ekpo also reported intimidation of indigenous landowners and manipulation of beneficiary lists in Esuk Ekom I & II.

The petition further alleges that construction firm Hitech has opened a new access road outside the approved 100‑metre corridor to extract sand from the Esuk Ekom village river without the consent of the Eyo Ekpo Family, the rightful landowners.

The community demands an independent audit of the compensation register, the removal of all non-indigenous beneficiaries, and the restoration of the original landowners to their rightful entitlements.

They warned that continued marginalisation has created deep frustration and tension within the host communities.