Tension grew over the weekend as Eket and Ibeno communities in Akwa Ibom State clashed over the ownership of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, the site proposed for the BUA Refinery project.
The forest reserve, acquired by the government and allocated to companies including BUA Petrochemical Refinery and Fertilizer Company, has long been a source of disputes between the two communities despite government efforts to settle the matter.
The Ekid People’s Union (EPU), led by President General Dr. Samuel Udonsak, insisted that Stubbs Creek belongs to the Ekid nation. He argued that the reserve, which is rich in oil, gas, minerals, and agricultural resources, has historical backing through colonial and post-colonial court rulings.
But the Ibeno Clan Council (ICC), through its Secretary, Mr. Udofia Okon Udofia, dismissed EPU’s claims. He described the position of Eket leaders as baseless, accusing them of spreading falsehoods and blackmailing the state government to avoid a peace probe set up by the governor.
Speaking to reporters in Upenekang, Ibeno’s headquarters, Udofia called Ekid’s rejection of the governor’s peace plan “cowardice.” He said Eket people lack any valid maps, documents, or court judgments to prove their claim over Stubbs Creek.
“You cannot talk about Stubbs Creek without Ibeno,” Udofia said. “From colonial records to present Akwa Ibom boundaries, it is clearly Ibeno land. Eket is only building its claim on lies.”
He dismissed Ekid’s reliance on the 1916/1918 court ruling as misleading. According to him, that case was between two Ibeno families—Mr. Ntiedo of Upenekang and Mr. Ikpak of Mkpanak. He argued that Eket had no involvement, apart from a servant of one of the families appearing as a witness.
Udofia further accused the British judge in the case, Judge Webber, of bias, claiming he was married to an Eket woman and deliberately ruled in their favor. But he added that the appeal court later overturned the ruling, declaring that the judgment could not award what was not requested.
He said Ibeno won that appeal and also defeated Ekid in a later case in 1980, when the court awarded ₦200,000 in damages to Ibeno. Udofia maintained that the legal documents supporting Ibeno’s ownership are still intact.
