Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has moved to address the decades-long ownership dispute over Stubb Creek along the Atlantic coastline in Ibeno Local Government Area of the state.
The age-long crisis had fueled repeated deadly clashes between Ibeno, Eket, and Esit Eket communities with reported scores of death and destruction of properties.
Governor Eno, during a town hall meeting for Eket Federal Constituency on August 2, announced the setting up of a peace committee to resolve the lingering boundary conflict.
The committee, to be chaired by the Governor, will have two nominees each from Ibeno, Eket, and Esit Eket LGAs, with calls for Mbo LGA to also be represented due to its shared boundary with Stubb Creek.
The decision by the governor to resolve the Ibeno – Esit Eket crises has drawn commendations from Ibeno leaders, who say it is long overdue.
Speaking after an emergency general meeting in Upenekang, the spokesperson for Akwaha Esop Ndito Ibeno Worldwide, Chief UmanIbono Ekaluo, lauded the government’s intervention, urging the committee to be impartial and thorough in examining historical records, treaties, and royalty payments connected to Stubb Creek.
Chief Ekaluo detailed a timeline of violent invasions allegedly carried out by armed attackers from Eket and Esit Eket, leading to the loss of lives, destruction of property worth billions of Naira, and displacement of residents.
Notable incidents include; the February 28, 2024 attack on Iwuoachang community where seven people were killed; the November 8, 2024 invasion of Inua Eyet Ikot; the December 24, 2024 attack on Ndito Eka Iba, and two more assaults on Inua Eyet Ikot this year, the latest being August 1, 2025.
He lamented that despite the magnitude of destruction, humanitarian relief has been absent, and state development projects in Ibeno remain a near zero.
“We have endured these unprovoked attacks not out of cowardice but to avoid escalating violence that could scare away oil and gas investors,” Ekaluo stated, warning that, the aggressors’ aim is to destabilise the area and cripple its economic potential.
Ibeno hosts several oil and gas facilities critical to the national economy, and local leaders feared that continued violence could deter investment.
They have called on the state government to speed up the formation and inauguration of the committee, saying any delay risks further loss of lives and livelihoods.