Patience Jacob Esq.
FF. IBRITAM & ASSOCIATES
Block 12 Block 9
Shendam close, off Emeka
Anyaoku Street
Area 11, Garki, Abuja.

ADDRESS FOR SERVICE WITHIN JURISDICTION

C/o Celsus Ukpong & Co
One Shepherd International School,
Ifa Ikot Akpabio, (Off Mbiabong Junction,)Uyo.

ADDRESS FOR SERVICE:
ON THE RESPONDENTS:

1. 1st RESPONDENT
   FEDERAL MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION
   ABUJA. OR UYO OFFICE.
2. 2nd RESPONDENT
   NIGERIA PORTS AUTHORITY
   ABUJA OR UYO OFFICE.
3. 3rd RESPONDENT
   C/O MINISTRY OF JUSTICE UYO.
   C/O MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, UYO.
   C/O MINISTRY OF JUSTICE UYO
4. 4th RESPONDENT
   C/O MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, UYO
5. 5th RESPONDENT
   C/O MINISTRY OF JUSTICE UYO
6. 6t RESPONDENT
   C/o MINISTRY OF JUSTICE UYO
   7.7TH RESPONDENT
   C/O MINISTRY OF JUSTICE UYO
   IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA

IN THE UYO JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN IN UYO
Suit No: FHC/UY/37/2021
BETWEEN
1.DR CELSUS UKPONG…..Applicant

2. MR OSBORN NTEKIM… Applicant
3. COMRADE HENRY ASUQUO JOHNSON ….. Applicant
   (FOR AND BEHALF OF IBAKA COMMUNITIES AND ORO NATION)

AND
Respondents

1. FEDERAL MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION
2. NIGERIA PORT AUTHORITY
3. AKWA IBOM STATE GOVERNMENT
4. MRS MFON USORO
5. DR. EMMANUEL EKUWEM
6. DR. AKON EYAKENYI
7. UNKNOWN PERSONS

AFFIDAVIT VERIFYING THE FACTS RELIED ON
I, CelsusUkpong, Nigerian citizen and legal practitioner of Block 12 Flat 9 Shendam Close ,off Emeka Anyaoku Street, Area 11 Garki ,Abuja do makeoath and say as follows:

1. That I am a Deputy Director of Oro Rights Renaissance, a
   nongovernmental organization and one of the claimants in this
   matter by virtue of which I am conversant with the facts of this case.
2. That I have the consent of the 2nd applicant and 3rd Applicant who is an indigene of Ibaka and Unyenhe communities respectively in Oron nations to depose to this affidavit.
3. That I know all the Applicants in this matter. The 1st applicant is a
   legal practitioner, a human right and people rights activist and
   indigene of Ukwong Clan in Oro nation in Akwa Ibom State. Oro
   nation comprises the following local governments Area in Akwa Ibom State: Oron, Udung Uko, Okobo, Mbo and Urue Offong Oruko. The
   2nd Applicants is an indigene of Ibaka and Ukwong Clan in Oro
   Nation. The 3rd Applicant is an indigene of Unyenhe, a host
   community of Ibom Industrial City (IIC), an adjacent community to
   Ibaka community.
4. That Ibaka community, Ukwong Clan and the whole of Mbo LGA
   which is part of Oron Nation are the primary host communities of the
   proposed IIC where proposed Ibaka deep seaport is located at
   Ibaka bay. Mbo has 80 % (percent) of the land while Ibeno has 20%
   of the land for the proposed IIC. See a copy a section of the final
   EIA report of IIC marked and attached as Exhibit Ibaka 1.
5. That I know all the respondents in the suit except the unknown
   persons. We verify the 1st respondent as the overall Federal
   Government Ministry in charge of approvals and development of deep
   seaports in Nigeria. The 2nd Respondent technically owns the
   proposed port and all seaports in Nigeria . The 3rd Respondent is a
   state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria where the proposed Ibaka
   deep seaport is situated. It plays a major role in promoting and
   seeking for the approval of the said seaport. 2nd Respondent is an
   agency of the 1st Respondent.
6. That the Certificate of Occupancy(C of O) of the acquired Ibaka lands and other adjacent lands for the proposed Ibom Industrial City which comprised Ibaka deep seaport was granted to the 2nd defendant.
7. That the 4th Respondent is the Chairman of a body of persons known as the Technical Committee on the actualization of Ibom deep
   seaport. The 5th Respondent is member a body of persons known as the technical committee on the actualization of Ibom Deep Seaport,
   an indigene of Ukwong Clan and Oron Nation. The 6th Respondent is a member of a body of persons known as the Technical Committee on the Actualization of Ibom Deep Seaport, an indigene of Ukwong Clan and Oron Nation. The 5th and 6th Respondents are yet to inform Oro Nation of the apparent legal or any justification for the decision of a committee in which they play active roles to change to the location of the proposed Ibaka Deep Seaport from its original location to Ibeno Beach about 40 km away. The 7th Respondent is unknown personwho may have interest in this suit.
8. That other members of the said Technical Committee on the
   Actualization of Ibom Deep Seaport known to me are: Mr. Chidi
   Izumah, Mr. Idongesit Udofa, Engr. Ekong Umo-Otong, Rear Admiral
   Francis Akpan, Barr. Aniekan Ukpanah, Mr. Charles Udonwah and
   Engr. Etido Inyang.
9. That the Applicants are acting for and on behalf of Ibaka community
   in particular and Oro nation in general. And it appears to me that the applicants have sufficient interest in the development of its natural resources such as their deep seaport with concomitant and positive infrastructure such as the proposed Ibom Industrial City, economic and environmental impact that were nearly coming to fruition but for the apparent wrongful exercise of power by a purported body of persons known as technical committee on the actualization of Ibom
   deep seaport. Ibaka community is a part of Ukwong Clan, Mbo LGA in
   Oro Nation of Akwa Ibom State. Oron nation and its people
   comprising Mbo, Udung Uko, Urue Offong Oruko, Okobo and Oron
   LGAs are aggrieved at the unprovoked and unwarranted relocation.
10. That on or about 29/11/2012, the then Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State Godswill Akpabio granted Certificate of Occupancy (C of 0) of proposed IIC land comprising Ibaka and adjacent communities Land in MB0 and Ibeno LGAs to the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).
    At that event, the said Governor handed the master plan of the
    proposed Ibaka deep seaport to the Managing Director of NPA, the
    2nd defendant, Engineer Omar Suleiman and they agreed that the
    deep seaport was to receive ocean liners not later than 2015. See a
    copy of a document titled, ‘Akwa Ibom set 2015 for Ibaka deep
    seaport. Akpabio grants NPA C of O for port Area attached and marked as Exhibit Ibaka 2.’
11. That I know as a fact Ibaka deep seaport has been in the drawing board for a long time. In the late 1940s, the colonial Government that administered Nigeria discovered Ibaka as the most suitable spot in Nigeria for the development of deep seaport project. This is adequately documented in Nigeria archives and that of the Nigeria Navy that has used the Ibaka bay for it activities for many years.
    Ibaka Bay has unrivalled natural depth of about 16.5 metre which
    and other natural protection from the ocean surge which Ibeno
    Beach was not known to have. Ibeno beach is not a known bay
    estuary or cove.
12. That in 2003, Akwa Ibom State government of Arch. Victor Attah
    administration. saw the need to develop Ibaka Deep Seaport for the
    interest of the economic development of Akwa Ibom State in
    particular and Nigeria in general. Then the state government set up
    the machinery in motion to achieve this. Never in the history of
    Nigeria was Ibeno Beach or Shorelines mentioned,touted, flaunted and published as a rival or an alternative place to site the a Deep Seaport Or any Seaport for that matter.
13. That in 2003, the administration of Arch. Victor Attah also designed
    the said Ibaka deep seaport and paid the sum of $ 5 million Us
    Dollars of public money as part payment of $ 10 million US Dollars
    which was the cost of the design. The said Arch. Victor Attah’s
    administration negotiated with a Chinese Soa’ Tome company to
    develop an Industrial City for and around the said Ibaka deep
    seaport.
14. That apart from academic research on the suitability of Ibaka as the best location of deep seaport in the Gulf of guinea, the then government of Akwa Ibom state commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies for the proposed IIC comprising the deep seaport project at Ibaka .The EIA studies was diligently carried
    out. Ibaka location was confirmed and approved and the EIA study
    for IIC comprising Ibaka deep seaport project that had been
    registered with the Federal Ministry of Environment appears to me
    it is a violation of EIA Act to abruptly or surreptitiously,
    clandestinely change the location of the seaport to another place
    that does not have a Bay but only a Beach in the proposed IIC
    without an independent and different EIA. Similarly it appears to me that the change of the project name from the approved name to
    that another is also wrongful. See attached a copy of research titled
    “NAVIGATION CHANNEL DEPTH FOR IBAKA DEEP SEAPORT IN
    NIGERIA” hereby marked and attached as Exhibit Ibaka 3.
15. That I have written to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Abuja requesting for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the so called Ibom deep seaport projet, Ibeno or elsewhere, and they informed me and I verily believe it to be true there is no Environmental impact Assessment for a project known as Ibom deep sea port, Ibeno. A copy of the said respondent is hereby annexed and marked as exhibit Ibaka 3A
16. That I know as a fact that government is said to be in a continuum, not working in disjunction, cross purposes or by the spur of the moment. It is apparent that he incoming Governments must accept
    assets and liabilities of outgoing governments. After the exit of Arch.
    Attah’s administration, Chief Godswill Akpabio’s administration
    acquired more than 14,900 hectare of land for the takeoff of the IIC
    which Ibaka deep seaport was the fulcrum. The said government on
    the 7/9/ 2014 obtained the approval and licence from the federal government for the IIC project which Ibaka Deep Seaport located at Ibaka Bay was the reference point. The type of approval the present administration got on 23/12/2020 for Ibom Deep Seaport to be located at Ibeno Beach. The approval of IIC project in which Ibaka Deep Seaport is the fulcrum is still in existence and waiting for a friendly government and private investors to give it a fillip.
17. That on the 12/6/2015 (fourteen days into the administration) the
    present administration of His Excellency (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel apparently (in continuation from what the previous administration
    did) and in good faith set up a body of persons known as the
    Technical Committee on the Actualization of Ibom Deep Seaport. The terms of reference of this committee did not include relocation of deep seaport from Ibaka Bay to any other place including Ibeno Beach that does not have Bay or anchorage. The location of the deep seaport in the proposed IIC was settled. And in any case there was no Ibom deep seaport to actualize. What was ready for actualization was the Ibaka deep seaport. That got it approval or licence ‘from the
    Federal Government on 7/9/2014. A copy of the governor’s speech
    on the day of inauguration showing terms of reference is hereby
    attached and marked as Exhibit IBAKA 4.
18. That the said Technical Committee for actualization apparently comprised body of lay persons without the technical know-how, the capacity on their own to technically and scientifically navigate, traverse and or advise the government beyond the mandate that was given to them which was the actualization of an on-going deep seaport within the IIC. The committee did not meet the stakeholders as mentioned in their terms of reference let alone exhaust the mandate given to them such as interfacing with the host
    communities. They went beyond their authority to relocate the
    Harbour of the deep seaport to another place without a Bay and
    directly opened to the ocean.
19. That the said committee apparently took a judicial or quasi- judicial decision to relocate the deep seaport from Ibaka Bay to Ibeno Beach without any scientific and technological basis or advice from noted experts. This was wrongful exercise of power and it appears an exercise in nullity to frustrate an ongoing seaport development. The committee avoided to interact with the host communities; the Ibaka, Oron nation and other stakeholders, noted experts and researchers in
    this area of expertise or proficiency, in their sinister design to
    relocate the seaport.
20. That the said stakeholders became aware of the ominous move when the Federal Government announced the approval of the licence for commencement (actualization) of another purported Deep Seaport about 40 km away from Ibaka Bay within the IIC which was done using an internationally recognized research by experts and
    documented suitability indices of Ibaka bay which is apparent
    has been distorted and doctored. See a copy of such research
    document is hereby attached and marked as Exhibit Ibaka 3.
21. That the said Technical Committee sat at their closet and
    Comfortable offices and in their secret enclave took Judicial or quasi judicial decision beyond their mandate and power and upturned a
    scientific and technological decision that has been sacrosanct,
    inviolable for over 60 years and without minding the cost
    implications and the feelings of the people that would be aggrieved
    at such decision
22. That this relocation appears morally and legally wrong and a
    breach of the Fundamental and Peoples’ Rights of Ibaka people in a
    particular and Oro nation in general who have been treated unequally
    like other people in Akwa Ibom state for a long time and in many
    situations.
23. That it appears also legally wrong for the said committee to have extrapolated, interpolated, distorted or transferred the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of ICC comprising Ibaka deep seaport project at Ibaka Bay as approved by the Federal Ministry of
    Environment to Ibeno Beach even though within the perimeter of the
    IIC. These two places are geographically located at two different spots in the universe and have different environmental Impact assessment of any project at its location.See a copy of 2012 EIA approval Report for Ibom Industrial City attached and
    marked as Exhibit Ibaka 5
24. That Ibaka People and indeed People of Oro Nation where the
    proposed Ibaka Deep Seaport is located, any NGO or rights activist
    who are aggrieved appear to have sufficient interest to challenge
    this wrongful relocation and the change of name.
25. That on the 7/9/ 2014 or thereabout the Ibaka Deep Seaport got licensed from Federal Government and it is in its kitty. In 2017,the Federal GOvernment budgeted or appropriated N1 billion for the commencement of Ibaka deep seaport in its appropriation Act. It appears too late in the day to change the name and location of this ongoing project without going through the National Assembly as the defendants are attempting to do.
    Oro people are earnestly waiting
    and asking for a friendly Government and private investors that Would key in and continue to completion of this project. See a copy a statement made by the Federal Government of the said appropriation is hereby attached and marked as Exhibit Ibaka 6.
26. That know as resources given to Oro nation by God and any encroachment in whatsoever form into it’s Water, Bay, Cove, Sea, Seabed, Channel, fact that Ibaka deep seaport is one of the natural
    Ocean, Land, Space and Cyber Domain as the result of development of Ibom Deep Seaport which is a different project will apparently disfigure, frustrate the future or ongoing development of Ibaka deep seaport.
27. That the present administration of Akwa Ibom in spite of the licence
    approved for Ibaka deep seaport 2014 or thereabout and the Federal
    GOvernment appropriating N 1 billion for its commencement in 2017, promoted another deep sea port at Ibeno Beach for Dugout port or any port and purportedly got a licence on 17/12/20 from the Federal Government from the wrongful decision of the Technical Committee that apparently acted beyond its jurisdiction.
28. That Lagos State has two approvals for two Deep Seaports at Lekki and Epe. Akwa Ibom State apparently may be entitled to more than one Deep Seaport. I have no hard feeling about any deep seaport or any port at Ibeno.
29. That appears the promotion and development or actualization’ of another deep seaport was not part and parcel of the terms of
    reference of the 10 man committee for the actualization of Ibom
    deep seaport led Barr (Mrs.) Mfon Usoro.
30. That the said project at inception was known and described as Ibaka deep seaport. The colonial, Attah and Akpabio administrations, sustained and retained the name and location in view of amazing depth of the high sea adjacent to Ibaka Bay which connects the Gulf of Guinea and the whole world, unrivalled by no other location for such project in the Gulf of Guinea. I am dumfounded,
    flabbergasted and aggrieved, like every good thinking Oro man and
    Akwa Ibom people, to see our new political players in the state move
    the project from its original location without reasonable or legal
    justification.
31. That Ibom deep seaport a coinage that has become a comfortable replacement for “Ibaka deep seaport’ not minding the feeling of the aggrieved Oro people, majority of men of goodwill and stakeholders outside Ibaka and its environs who had started investing in the Ibaka area in consequent upon the approval or licence to locate the seaport at Ibaka and the licence for it got on the 7/9/2014.

32.That this present administration has not done any infrastructural
project in Oro nation or Mbo LGA which is the administrative
Headquarters of the proposed IIC project since its inception to
support of the Ibaka deep seaport unlike the previous administrations
of Attah and Akpabio that laid a ground breaking foundation
ceremony of the Ibaka project that took billions of naira of our
Common coffer away. The relic of the said foundation ceremony is
still available at Ibaka for the entire world to see.

33. That purported relocation has generated a lot of interest,
    Controversy and bad blood in the general public sothat on or about
    12/6/2021 the governor of the 3 respondent, His Excellency(Deacon) Udom Emmanuel denied when asked in Channels television live program that Ibaka deep project has not been relocated but only shifted 2km from Ibaka to Unyenhe, a community the still in Oron nation for unknown technical reasons.
34. That the denial of the governor is contrary to the position of the 4
    respondent that their technical committee now prefer a dug out port in Ibeno beach to the proposed deep sea port in Ibaka.
35. That I know as fact that the entire Oro people feel deeply stabbed at the back and feel betrayed by the actions of prominent Oro sons
    and daughters that were in the purported Technical Committee on
    the actualization of Ibom Deep Seaport that took the wrongful
    decision to relocate the seaport from its original location without
    basis, objection and without informing Oro people in good faith of their challenges in this regard.
36. That the purported relocation
    of Ibaka deep seaport to Ibeno
    Seashore or Beach appears an orchestrated and continual episodes in a long leitmotif of marginalization and ostracism of Oro Nation and its people, to traumatize, injure and strangulate it economically while plummeting its enormous resources and environment without mercy.
37. That in terms of population and land mass Oron nation may concede to be the smallest of the three major ethnic groups Ibibio, Annang, and Oron in the state. But it has in its favour the highest oil and
    gas bearing communities in the state. The bulk of the money where
    Akwa Ibom state will contribute as 20 % equity to the development
    of the said the Deep Seaportwould be rightly derived from Oro
    territory.
38. That Oro nation and its people, if given opportunity to manageit
    resources, as it were, is in a position to develop, can develop this deep seaport by seeking private investors also. This is one of their greatest natural resources from God. Oron people can use this
    project to emancipate itself from the chain of economic slavery it is
    presentily entangled.
39. That it is apparent to me that the interest of justice will be served to grant this application.
40. That I have written to relevant agencies including some of the
    respondents to intervene and they are yet to respond.A Copy of the
    pre-action notice is attached and marked Exhibit Ibaka 7.
41. That I have also written to also written to the National
    Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency
    (NEAREA) and Federal Ministry of Environment to provide the
    following documents that appears to be in their position:
42. Report and certificate of Ibaka deep seaport
43. Report and certificate of ibom industrial city
44. Report and certificate of Ibom deep seaport, Ibeno. A copy of the
    application is attached and marked as Exhibit Ibaka 8
    42.That I make this affidavit in good faith, conscientiously believing
    same to be correct and in accordance with the oaths at in force.

Sworn to at the Registry
Federal High court, Uyo
Dated..5th..this day ..july..2021