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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The federal government and the Akwa Ibom State government have been criticised for rerouting the Calabar–Coastal highway in Akwa Ibom, a move that would lead to the destruction of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve.
The Save Stubbs Creek Organisation, an umbrella body of 69 civil society groups, said the decision would also result in irreversible environmental damage and job losses.
While addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Environment Watch Foundation, Dr Kelechukwu Okezie, speaking on behalf of the groups, argued that the decision flouted environmental law, as enshrined in Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), which mandates environmental protection and requires all levels of government to improve the environment and safeguard the water, air, land, forest, and wildlife of Nigeria.
As a way out, Okezie charged the Federal Ministry of Works to “immediately reroute the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway away from Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve and its buffer zones.”
He maintained that the government should “publicly disclose alternative alignments that avoid protected areas and sensitive ecosystems and ensure that all project decisions comply with the EIA Act 1992 and robust international safeguards.”
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Moreover, he told the Federal Ministry of Environment to mandate and publicly release a cumulative ESIA for all existing and proposed projects affecting Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, assessing combined impacts before any further approvals or construction.
Furthermore, he advised the government to enforce full compliance with environmental and forest protection laws by applying the precautionary principle, including a temporary halt to land clearing or construction within the reserve where credible cumulative impact assessments and safeguards are absent.
In addition, he urged the government to ensure transparent public participation and independent oversight by convening open consultations and appointing an independent review mechanism to scrutinise ESIA findings, mitigation claims, and accountability for ecological damage and restoration.
He implored the Akwa Ibom State Government to “unequivocally affirm the protected status of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve and refuse any land allocation or right-of-way approvals that permit construction within the reserve; actively engage the Federal Government and host communities to secure a lawful, environmentally responsible, and conflict-sensitive alignment for the coastal highway.”
