Tension As Akwa Ibom Community Tackles Ekid Over Disputed Forest Reserve

The brewing crisis over the ownership of the disputed Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve which Eket and Esit Eket local government areas insisted is their ancestral property may escalate the ongoing feud with the Akwa Ibom State government.

Ekid ethnic nationality comprising Eket and Esit LGAs are at loggerheads with the state government, alleging Governor Umo Eno, had forcefully seized the land and allocated some portions to some firms without compensation to the rightful landowners, a claim the government dismissed.

However, the leaders, elders and stakeholders of the Ubyinge community in Mbo LGA, have faulted the sole ownership of the forest reserve, maintaining that the forest reserve spans across four LGAs including Mbo, Eket, Esit Eket and Ibeno.

A communique arising from the emergency meeting by the agrieved community leaders of Unyinge community signed by Chief Itama Ekpe,  stated that they are closely monitoring the ongoing negotiations between the Ekid People’s Union (EPU) and Ibeno over the ownership of the Stubbs Creek Forest.

The aggrieved Unyinge community stakeholders noted that the controversy, was reignited by the EPU’s renewed push to assert dominance and control over the forest, which spans four local government areas: Mbo, Ibeno, Esit Eket and Eket, and urged the government to be fair in the negotiation for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

“Earlier conflicts arising from competing claims to the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve reportedly claimed several lives, yet lessons from those tragic encounters appear to have been largely ignored.

“The dispute between the Unyenge and Eket communities was particularly intense, with reports of multiple casualties. Despite this history, tensions have persisted, with Eket accused of failing to learn from past experiences.

“Unyenge leaders estimate that between 70 and 75 per cent of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve lies within Unyenge territory. The community has, over the years, experienced repeated confrontations, largely attributed to claims and activities by Eket within the forest reserve.

“Economic activities such as lumbering, fishing, farming, and raffia palm tapping are reportedly carried out by Eket residents in the area, with many residing in Unyenge land, while engaging in these activities.

“Unyenge community does not share a direct boundary with Eket, except through Ntak Inyang in Esit Eket at Nkung Nkanga, and the two communities are also separated by a valley,” the communique stated.

Chief Ekpe recalled that “in 1994, Eket took Unyenge to Court over the ownership of the Stubbs Creek Forest but lost the case. He added that Eket also lost the appeal it subsequently filed in Calabar.”

He explained that the legal dispute involved Unyenge, representing the Ibeno axis, and Eket, representing the Ekid axis, over the ownership of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve in Akwa Ibom State.

According to Ekpe, the claims by Eket and Esit Eket to the 310.8-square-kilometre forest reserve are based on assertions of ancestral ownership, arguing that “residency or economic activities do not confer ownership of land.”

He added that Eket and Esit Eket referred to the forest as Akoiyak largely because they fished there at a time when Unyenge fishermen were trading in Cameroon, maintaining that there is no ambiguity regarding the ownership of the Stubbs Creek Forest, insisting that “the evidence supporting Unyenge’s claim is overwhelming.”

In view of the recurring conflicts, the Akwa Ibom State Government has expressed concern and reiterated that the land was legally constituted as a forest reserve under Forest Reserve Order No. 45 of 1930 and is held in trust by the governor under the Land Use Act of 1978.

“As of January 2026, the dispute remains unresolved and is considered a potential threat to major projects in the area, including the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway and the proposed BUA oil refinery. The state government has recently reaffirmed its authority over the land, dismissing recent claims by the Ekid People’s Union as a misrepresentation of the 1918 judicial record,” the communique noted.

Another community leader, Mr Bassey Ekpimah, described Eket’s claims as lacking substance, noting that the principal owner of the disputed land has remained silent, while Eket, which he said occupies only a small portion of the area, continues to assert ownership.

“We are simply observing how the situation unfolds. The land on which the BUA refinery is being built does not belong to Ibeno or Eket; it is part of the Unyenge land.