CSOs Raise Environmental Concerns Over Lagos–Calabar Highway Route

‎A coalition of civil society organisations has raised concerns  over plans to route the proposed Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway through the Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve in Akwa Ibom State.                                 

At a News Conference in Abuja, the over sixty Civil Society Organizations expressed concern that the move could cause irreversible environmental damage and breach Nigeria’s environmental laws.
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Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, the Executive Director Neighborhood Environment Watch Foundation, Dr,  Kelechukwu Okezie, explained that Stubb Creek Forest Reserve reserve is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most ecologically significant mangrove-freshwater ecosystems in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
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Dr. Okezie emphasized that routing a major highway through the reserve would lead to large-scale deforestation, disruption of water systems, loss of biodiversity and heightened vulnerability to flooding and coastal erosion, with social and economic costs.
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‎Also Speaking, the Director, Policy Alert and Coordinator of the Save Stubbs Creek Campaign, Mr. Tijah Bolton-Akpan, said the Forest reserved since the colonial era has served as a source of livelihood to many people of Akwa Ibom and neighbouring States

‎The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations appealed to the Federal Government to consider the future implications of allowing highways to pass through the Stubb Creek Forest Reserve
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The organisations argued that rerouting the highway is feasible, noting that other sections of the Lagos–Calabar project have already been realigned to address social and environmental concerns.
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Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji
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