CSOs warn against routing Lagos–Calabar highway through forest reserve

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has raised concern over plans to route the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway through the Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve in Akwa Ibom State, warning that the move could trigger irreversible environmental damage and violate Nigeria’s environmental laws. At a press conference in Abuja, the groups expressed worry over indications by […]

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has raised concern over plans to route the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway through the Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve in Akwa Ibom State, warning that the move could trigger irreversible environmental damage and violate Nigeria’s environmental laws.

At a press conference in Abuja, the groups expressed worry over indications by the Akwa Ibom State Government that it may consider de-reserving all or parts of the forest to accommodate the highway project. 

The coalition comprises 69 civil society organisations, including  the Amnesty International Nigeria, SERAP, BudgIT, CISLAC, Yiaga Africa, ERA/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, among others.

They described Stubb’s Creek as a legally gazetted forest reserve and one of Nigeria’s most ecologically significant mangrove–freshwater ecosystems.

Established under Forest Reserve Order number 45 of 1930, Stubb’s Creek is recognised as a biodiversity hotspot that supports thousands of plant and animal species, some of them rare or endangered. 

According to the CSOs, the reserve also provides critical services such as coastal protection, flood control, fisheries breeding grounds and livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.

They warned that routing a major infrastructure project through the reserve would lead to large-scale deforestation, disruption of hydrological systems, biodiversity loss and heightened vulnerability to flooding and coastal erosion, with long-term social and economic consequences.

“The highway can be rerouted, but the environmental impacts of cutting through Stubb’s Creek would be irreversible,” the groups said, noting that portions of the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway had already been realigned elsewhere, proving that alternative routes were feasible when ecological concerns were prioritised.

They warned that sacrificing mangrove forests in the Niger Delta would undermine Nigeria’s climate and biodiversity commitments and violate the principle of intergenerational equity.

The CSOs called on the Federal Ministry of Works to immediately reroute the highway away from Stubb’s Creek and its buffer zones, disclose alternative alignments and ensure full compliance with environmental laws.