According to a report by the Punch on Friday, January 23, 2026, a contentious ownership battle over the strategic Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve in Akwa Ibom State has intensified. The Unyenge community has entered the fray, directly contesting claims made by the Ekid people and presenting a counter-narrative based on history and geography.
The Unyenge community argues that the Ekid claims are without factual basis. They reference colonial maps and historical settlement patterns to assert that the largest portion of the reserve falls within their ancestral territory, not that of Eket or Ibeno.
A community leader, Mr. Bassey Ekpimah, made a specific claim regarding a major industrial project in the area. He asserted, “The land on which the BUA refinery is being built does not belong to Ibeno or Eket; it is part of Unyenge land.” This statement directly ties the land dispute to a high-stakes economic asset, raising the conflict’s profile.
Ekpimah further stated that Unyenge shares a boundary with Ibeno but has no direct boundary with Eket, geographically distancing the Ekid claimants. He warned that any attempt to encroach on what Unyenge considers its territory would be met with resistance.
The community also cites legal precedent, noting that Eket previously took Unyenge to court over the reserve in 1994 and lost the case, including a subsequent appeal. They maintain that residency or economic activity by other groups does not equate to legal ownership.
This new challenge from Unyenge adds a third major voice to the dispute, joining the Ekid people and the Ibeno Local Government Council, which has also rejected the Ekid claims. The Akwa Ibom State government has previously intervened, clarifying that colonial forest reserve laws vested management authority in the government, not any single community. The conflict underscores the deep-seated tensions surrounding land, identity, and valuable resources in the region.
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