25th October, 2013
Residents of Ibaka community in Ibaka Mbo Local Government, Akwa Ibom Stae, southern Nigeria, on Friday asked for N10 billion compensation to allow the Federal Government start the Ibaka Deep Seaport project.
The residents told journalists, who visited the Ibaka Seaport site, that they were ready to relocate for development of the area.
Mr Okon Udotong, spokesperson for the community, said that they were not against the project or development of the area.
”If the government wants to use the area for the development of a seaport, we will support the project.
“The area has over 1,000 hectares of land. At least with N10 billion we can all relocate to other areas.
”We know it will bring growth and development as well as attract revenue to the government,” Udotong said.
He said that the indigenes were worried that the government had not contacted them since the community got a report of the project.
”Our concern is where we will be relocated to. We have lived here for over 20 years. Apart from the indigenes, people from the East and West live and transact business here,” he said.
Udotong said that the seaport, when completed would decongest existing ports in Nigeria because the project would be a trans-shipment port.
He said that the depth of the seaport would be of an advantage to countries which shared borders with Nigeria along the coast line.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the Ibaka project would be handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).