Ibeno have rejected Ekid People’s Union (EPU) claims on the ownership of Stubb Creeks.

Speaking on behalf of the Ibeno Clan Council and other stakeholders, the Secretary of Ibeno Clan Council, Chief Udofia Udofia, said Ekid’s submission before the Akwa Ibom State Land Use Allocation Committee was a deliberate attempt to intimidate the government, investors and neighbouring communities through distorted colonial history and reckless legal assertions.

Udofia stated that Ibeno is an ancient coastal people, whose settlements predate colonial administration by centuries, stressing that communities such as Upenekang, Mkpanak, Atabrikang and Okoroutip were firmly established through fishing, salt-making and maritime trade long before the emergence of modern boundaries.

He said: “Our identity as a coastal people is not in doubt. Ibeno has never been a tenant community, nor has it existed at the pleasure of any inland group.”