By Obiabin Onukwugha
A civil society organization, the Network Advancement Program for Poverty & Disaster Risk Reduction (NAPPDRR), has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the planned citing of a Naval Base at the Stubb Creek Reserve Forest in Esit-Eket, Ibeno, Mbo and Eket Local government areas of Akwa Ibom State.
The body in the petition dated October 26, 2026, which also copied the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa (Rtd.), the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the Stubb Creek Forest Reserve (SCFR) also known as Akoiyak Ekid, was gazetted in 1930 under Order 45 (amended by Orders of 1941, 1955 and 1962), and remains the largest and only significant natural coastal swamp forest in Akwa Ibom State, with an original gazetted area of 310.78sqkm.
The petition signed by NAPPDRR Founding Executive Director, Hon. Emem Edoho, called on the President to order for a halt to the proposed project, pending a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
“We, the Network Advancement Program for Poverty & Disaster Risk Reduction (NAPPDRR), a civil society organization with mandate for poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction, environmental justice and protection of indigenous communities, write on behalf of the indigenous peoples and host communities of Stubb Creek Forest Reserve in Esit-Eket, Ibeno, Mbo and Eket LGAs of Akwa Ibom State, to respectfully but firmly petition Your Excellency to halt and re-evaluate the proposed establishment of a Naval Base inside the Stubb Creek Forest Reserve as announced by the Akwa Ibom State Government on 23rd October, 2026,” it said.
The body emphasised that the Reserve is documented globally as a biodiversity hotspot in the Gulf of Guinea, comprising mangrove swamp, freshwater swamp and tropical rainforest ecosystems. It harbours IUCN Red-listed species including Cercopithecus sclateri (Sclater’s Guenon), Cercopithecus mona, manatee, pangolin, forest elephants and over 90 documented animal species, with critical ecosystem services – flood control, carbon sequestration, fisheries breeding ground and livelihood sustenance.
NAPPDRR submited that siting a naval base inside a gazetted forest reserve violates extant laws and Nigeria’s international obligations. It emphasised that the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, Cap E12, LFN 2004 (EIAb Act 1992): Section 2(1) & (2) makes EIA MANDATORY for any project likely to significantly affect the environment. “Schedule 1 includes forestry;related activities, military installations and projects in environmentally sensitive areas,” the body stated.
NAPPDRR revealed that no EIA, public display or public hearing has been conducted or published for this project, pointing out that proceeding without it is an offence under Section 60 punishable by fine and imprisonment, as affirmed in Gbenre v Shell.
It quoted section 21 Akwa Ibom State Law for the Preservation and Control of Forests, 2000, which prescribes a rigorous procedure for de-reservation, stating that no evidence of compliance exists. “The State Ministry of Agriculture has failed to produce any gazetted de-reservation notice in response to FOI requests (Dataphyte Investigative Report, 2025),” it stated.
The petition also highlighted that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) Section 20, mandates the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard water, air, land, forest and wildlife. It further cited the National Forest Policy 2006 & National Biodiversity Strategy, whuch prohibits conversion of gazetted forest reserves for non-forestry purposes without replacement and compensatory afforestation.
NAPPDRR also referred the President to the Climate Change Act, 2021, which establishes Nigeria’s commitment to netzero and protection of carbon sinks. “Stubb Creek mangroves store an estimated 3-5 times more carbon than terrestrial forests. Destruction will release massive carbon and undermine Nigeria’s NDC under the Paris Agreement,” the body said.
On international treaties binding on Nigeria, NAPPDRR mentioned that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, and African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, all require protection of critical biodiversity hotspots.
NAPPDRR insisted that establishing a military base without Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Ekid and Ibeno indigenous communities violates UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the African Commission’s Principles on Indigenous Peoples.
“The project will cause economic displacement – loss of fishing grounds, NTFPs, firewood, farmlands – without compensation or resettlement plan, in breach of Land Use Act 1978 requirements for overriding public interest, consultation and compensation,” the petition read.
It also noted that security presence inside a fragile ecosystem has historically led to militarization of resource access, increased illegal logging and human rights concerns, rather than community security. “Your Excellency, while we fully support strengthening national security along the Ibeno coastline, security can and must be achieved WITHOUT destroying a 94-year-old gazetted forest reserv,” the body emphasised
It therefore called for an order halting any clearing, de-reservation or construction of a naval base inside the Stubb Creek Forest Reserve pending full compliance with due process.
NAPPDRR also called on President Tinubu to direct the Federal Ministry of Environment, National Park Service and NOSDRA to conduct a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and a full Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA with public participation of all host communities, as required by law and as well, direct that alternative, already degraded sites outside the Forest Reserve such as the Stubb Creek coastline buffer zone, Ibom Deep Seaport axis or Urue Offong Oruko battalion corridor, be considered for the naval base.
It further called on the President to constitute an Independent Panel of Inquiry comprising Federal Government, Akwa Ibom State Government, Ekid People’s Union, Ibeno communities, NAPPDRR, and environmental experts to determine the status, boundaries and preservation plan for SCFR, and declare Stubb Creek Forest Reserve as a Critical Natural Habitat and Community Conserved Area for ecotourism, blue economy and climate resilience in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Destruction of Stubb Creek Forest Reserve for any project, however laudable its intention, would amount to irreversible environmental injustice, a violation of Nigerian law, and a betrayal of our climate commitments to the world.
“The indigenous people who have preserved this forest for centuries must not be sacrificed. We trust in Your Excellency’s fatherly commitment to environmental justice and the rule of law,” the partition read.
