Prof Amadi, civil society organizations call for independent investigation into Akwa Ibom-Cross River oil well crisis

Prof Amadi, civil society organizations call for independent investigation into Akwa Ibom-Cross River oil well crisis

…Let’s say Nigeria loses 780 hectares of maritime territory

By editor

A coalition of 46 civil society organizations under the Center for Credible Leadership and Citizen Awareness (CCLCA) has called for a presidential special investigative team to look into the loss of about 780 hectares of Nigerian maritime territory within the Cross River Estuary.

Reading the coalition’s statement in Abuja on Thursday, CCLCA Director General, Dr. Gabriel Nwambu, said: “CCLCA, in strategic collaboration with 12 frontline rights organizations and following a rigorous, expert-led fact-finding mission on the maritime boundaries of the Gulf of Guinea and the delineation of the ‘mouth of water’ between Nigeria and Cameroon, has uncovered critical data regarding the property status between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.”

The dialogue, which brought together 46 civil society organizations, proposed a roadmap for regional peace and administrative clarity. The coalition made six key recommendations to President Bola Tinubu:

1. Immediate Presidential Review of the 2024 and 2025 Inter-Agency Committee Reports on Oil Well Verification and Offtake Allocation affecting Cross River and Akwa Ibom.

2. Presidential Directive for the appropriate delimitation of the maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon within the Cross River Corridor, in line with the 2002 International Court of Justice ruling.

3. Establishment of a Presidential Special Investigation Team to investigate the leakage of Nigerian maritime waters in the Cross River Estuary.

4. Forensic audit of revenues and derivative payments related to the Ekanga and Zafiro cross-border oil fields.

5. Investigation into the alleged unilateral approval of ₦33 billion in payments from the Federation account without presidential authorization.

6. Urgent diplomatic engagement with Cameroon on reservoir development agreements for 49 continuity wells within OML 114 and restoration of the littoral status of Cross River State.

The prof. Sam Amadi, one of the investigators, said the fact-finding tour was “stunning” and stressed the urgent need for an independent panel to probe positions taken in the border dispute. “Our findings revealed that Cross River is indeed a coastal state and has been severely marginalized,” he said.