70 CSOs Urge FG to Re-route Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project from Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria has called on the federal government to immediately re-route the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway away from Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve and its buffer zones.

It said this was to protect Nigeria’s most ecologically significant mangrove-freshwater forest systems.

The Coalition leaders comprising over 70 CSOs, who spoke on Thursday in Abuja during a world press conference on ‘#SaveStubbsCreek Campaign’ said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway project failed all known Environmental Impact Assessments, EIAs.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, the Executive Director, Neighborhood Environment Watch Foundation, Dr. Kelechikwu Okezie, called on the federal government to publicly disclose alternative alignments that avoid protected areas and sensitive ecosystems.

He said the coalition was surprised at statements from the Akwa Ibom State Government, suggesting that it might pursue de-reservation of Stubb’s Creek in order to make way for this project.”

Okezie expressed concern that Akwa Ibom State Government being the statutory custodian of Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve permitted the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway to traverse the reserve.

He stated: “Re-purposing a forest reserve is a serious decision, and global evidence shows that such downsizing or degazettements have resulted in rapid, often irreversible environmental loss.

“Under international human rights and environmental norms, such a step must be preceded by meaningful public participation, free, prior, and informed consultation, and access to information.

“But it is clear in the current instance that routing the project through Stubb’s Creek is not unavoidable; neither can due process for de-reservation be meaningfully followed within the timeline of the highway project.

“In any case, portions of the coastal highway have already been realigned in other locations, demonstrating that alternative routes are feasible when ecological and social considerations are taken seriously.”

Okezie maintained the reserve is considered a biodiversity hotspot, and remains one of Nigeria’s most ecologically significant mangrove-freshwater forest systems.

He noted: “Passing a major infrastructure project through such a fragile ecological zone risks would cause irreversible environmental damage such as large-scale deforestation, disruption of hydrological systems, biodiversity loss, and severe threats to coastal resilience, in addition to social fragility and long-term economic loss.

“The current status of Stubb’s Creek as a forest reserve imposes a clear duty on government authorities to prevent incompatible land uses that would result in ecological damage.

“Any infrastructure development within the reserve would therefore be inconsistent with the reserve’s legal purpose and conservation mandate.”

Against this background, the Coalition urged Federal Ministry of Works to immediately reroute the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway away from Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve and its buffer zones.

It further urged the federal government to 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.