Community Accuses BUA Of Land Encroachment, Vows To Stop Refinery

The dispute over the ownership of the land between two communities in Akwa Ibom State is threatening the BUA refinery and petrochemical complex with the Ekid people insisting that the Stubbs Creeks Forest where the project is located is their territory and not of their Ibeno neighbours.

Promoted by Abdul Samad Rabiu, a philanthropist and industrialist, the BUA refinery and petrochemical project is located off the Atlantic Coast in the Stubbs Creek Forest, an area being disputed by the people of Ibeno, Esit Eket and Eket local government areas of Akwa Ibom state.

According to the Ekid people, found in Eket and Esit Eket Local Government Areas of the state, BUA should have followed the footsteps taken by Mobil Producing Nigeria which had its operational base in the area by meeting with the land owners and paying compensation accordingly before acquiring the land.

In a document submitted to the Akwa Ibom State Land Use And Allocation Committee and signed by the National President of Ekid People’s Union, Dr Samuel Udonsak, they accused BUA of illegal encroachment on their land without following the due process.

“ExxonMobil Qua Iboe Terminal is situated in the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve.

“It was first dereserved, then the land acquired and compensation paid to the Ekid people who are the landowners of the Stubbs Creeks Forest.

“This is how land can be acquired in the Stubbs Creek Forest and nobody should be cajoled by greed for lack of knowledge to regard Ibeno as land owners of the Stubbs Creek Forest.

“That is what BUA ought to have done and must now do. Identify the area of its interest, meet the land owners (Ekid people) and we would be delighted to meet with them.

“With the secured lease terms from Ekid, the landowners, BUA would then approach the government for land titles as appropriate, anything less than that amounts to criminal encroachment and Ekid people will resist it until eternity,’’ he said.

Last month, BUA group clarified that although its 200,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery located in Akwa Ibom State was progressing, it was not yet 90 per cent completed as reported in some quarters.

The tussle over the ownership of the land where the project is located is one of the reasons for the slow pace of progress, according to the community.

BUA refinery management could not immediately comment on this report before going to press.

Community Accuses BUA Of Land Encroachment, Vows To Stop Refinery is first published on The Whistler Newspaper