“𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗯𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱”. 𝗘𝗸𝗶𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿, 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲.

By Assam Abia.

The Board of Trustees of the Ekid People’s Union (EPU) has issued a passionate and carefully reasoned appeal for restraint, justice, and constructive engagement over the future of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, warning that hostile rhetoric and unlawful land practices threaten peace, history, and environmental sustainability in Akwa Ibom State.
The appeal followed the recent visit of Governor Umo Eno to Nduo Eduo in Eket Local Government Area, where he commissioned a Model Health Centre.

Ekid people, according to the EPU, received the project with gratitude and goodwill, especially as it came during the Christmas season and was widely seen as a “gift of life.” While appreciating the development, the Union, however, expressed deep concern over comments made at the event which it described as hurtful, misleading, and damaging to long-standing relationships.
In a measured tone, the Board of Trustees said it chose reflection over anger, attributing the governor’s remarks to the pressures of office. Yet it lamented that political supporters and praise-singers have since escalated the situation, turning what may have been a momentary lapse into a sustained narrative portraying Ekid people as enemies of progress.

“The duty to speak at this point is owed not only to Ekid people but to the peace, stability, and future of Akwa Ibom State,” the statement noted, stressing the need to clear misconceptions and restate Ekid concerns with clarity, restraint, and respect for the rule of law.

Central to the dispute is the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve and allegations that Ekid people are resisting development, particularly the proposed coastal or super highway. The EPU firmly rejected the label of “terrorists,” describing it as a painful criminalisation of a people who have consistently pursued lawful and peaceful means to protect their ancestral land.

The Union recalled that Ekid people hosted and supported Governor Umo Eno for over 35 years, providing the environment in which he lived, built his business, and rose politically. That such a people could now be branded terrorists for insisting on due process, consultation, and compensation in land matters was described as an irony history would not forget.

The EPU was emphatic that Ekid people are not opposed to development. On the contrary, they desire roads, hospitals, schools, industries, and opportunities for their youth. What they oppose, the statement clarified, is a model of development that ignores history, culture, environmental sustainability, and the law. Insisting on due process in land acquisition, it stressed, is not hostility but a legitimate right of citizenship.

Addressing attempts to personalise the issue, the Board defended the President of the Union, Dr. Samuel Udonsak, describing him as the duly recognised spokesman of Ekid people whose actions reflect a collective mandate. Any effort to vilify or isolate him, the Union said, is a misrepresentation of Ekid unity and decision-making.
On the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, the EPU clarified that it has not opposed the project as a federal initiative. Rather, the caveat it issued was meant to alert investors to alleged illegal land racketeering within Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, where ancestral lands were being allocated without consultation, consent, or compensation.

The Union traced Ekid ownership of the area to established legal authorities, including the 1918 Privy Council judgment affirming Ekid rights over the swamps and littoral lands east of the Qua Iboe River. It also cited the Akwa Ibom State Map Law of 2023 as further reinforcement of Ekid territorial boundaries. The designation of Stubbs Creek as a forest reserve in 1930, it argued, was for conservation and did not extinguish indigenous ownership under Nigerian law and the Land Use Act.

Historically, the EPU noted, Ekid people have shown willingness to make concessions when properly engaged, citing land grants for public facilities in 1945 and 2001. These examples, it said, contradict narratives portraying Ekid as inflexible or hostile.

Beyond law and history, the Union raised alarm over the environmental implications of unchecked land conversion. Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, it said, remains one of the last vital ecosystems in the state, protecting against erosion and flooding, sustaining livelihoods, and offering ecological value far greater than short-term revenue gains.

Warning against what it described as a “panicky” approach to land conversion, the EPU urged the state to learn from Nigeria’s experience with crude oil exploitation, where short-term gains came at enormous environmental and social cost.

The Board further alleged that rising hostile rhetoric may be intended to intimidate Ekid people into silence and legitimise questionable land transactions. It recalled that the EPU had previously praised Governor Umo Eno for revoking land allocations from 2023 and urged that the directive be extended to Stubbs Creek.

“We will not be intimidated into surrendering our rights,” the statement declared. “Our resolve is rooted in law, history, and responsibility to generations yet unborn.”

Calling Akwa Ibom’s present moment a defining one, the EPU urged the governor to choose dialogue over force, justice over intimidation, and sustainability over short-term expediency. It appealed for hostile rhetoric to give way to transparent environmental and social impact assessments, genuine stakeholder engagement, and consideration of alternative development routes.
Ekid people, the Union concluded, remain committed to peace and to the development of Akwa Ibom State, but equally steadfast in defending their land, environment, and dignity.

“That stance is not terrorism,” the statement said. “It is responsible citizenship rooted in the rule of law.”