The controversy surrounding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has taken a fresh turn as lawyers and stakeholders from Ondo State’s Ilaje coastal communities demand that the Federal Government restore what they describe as the project’s original coastal alignment.
The group, represented by Attorney-at-Law Dr Benson Enikuomehin, made the demand during a press conference in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, accusing the Federal Ministry of Works of substantially altering the planned route through Ondo State and bypassing several coastal communities.
According to the stakeholders, the current alignment has shifted inland through parts of Ondo and Edo states instead of following the coastline through communities in Ilaje Local Government Area before continuing towards Delta State and the other states on the route.
The renewed complaint follows concerns previously raised by Afenifere in August over the alleged abandonment of sections of Ondo’s coastal communities, prompting Works Minister David Umahi to explain that the government’s preference remained a coastal route but that engineering considerations could influence the final alignment.
Umahi had explained that the highway was initially designed to run along the coast, approximately two kilometres from the shoreline in the relevant section, while stressing that engineering conditions could require adjustments to the route.
However, Enikuomehin alleged that the deviation in Ondo had gone far beyond minor engineering adjustments, claiming that more than 60 per cent of the coastal communities in Ilaje had been bypassed under the current plan.
He specifically identified communities including Ugbonla, Ilowo, Ilepete, Obe-Enikanoselu, Obe-Rewoye, Ikorigho, Jinrinwo, Awoye and Igho as among those allegedly excluded from the highway’s initial alignment.
The lawyer further alleged that the highway had effectively become an inland route within the Ondo section, passing through Oke-Upare before connecting communities in Edo State’s Ovia North and Ovia West Local Government Areas, including Gelegele.
Enikuomehin argued that the change undermined the fundamental purpose of a coastal highway, insisting that Ondo’s coastline should be included because the state has one of Nigeria’s longest coastlines, estimated by the group at between 80 and 100 kilometres.
The group also challenged the argument that constructing the highway through the Ilaje area would be prohibitively expensive because of the difficult terrain, presenting alternative cost estimates to support its demand for the restoration of the coastal route.
According to the figures presented by Enikuomehin, construction along the proposed Ugbonla-to-Escravos coastal axis could cost between ₦4bn and ₦7.5bn per kilometre, while the inland alignment through difficult swamp terrain could cost between ₦7.5bn and ₦12bn per kilometre.
He estimated the coastal option at between ₦240bn and ₦450bn, compared with an estimated ₦970bn to ₦1.5tn for the longer inland alternative through Edo State, although these figures were presented by the group and were not independently confirmed in the report.
The stakeholders also argued that the coastal route would provide a shorter connection between Ugbonla in Ondo State and Escravos in Delta State, estimating the direct route at about 60 to 75 kilometres compared with roughly 130 to 150 kilometres for the inland detour.
To strengthen their argument that road construction is possible in the challenging Ilaje terrain, the lawyers cited the Ugbo-Oghoye Road Phase 1, a 40-kilometre project awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission in 2010.
Enikuomehin said the group was not against Edo State benefiting from the broader Lagos-Calabar project but maintained that such benefits should not come at the expense of Ondo’s coastal communities.
The lawyers further alleged that excluding the Ilaje communities amounted to discrimination and referenced Section 42 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, while calling for a review of the route rather than an outright abandonment of the project.
They ultimately appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the dispute and direct a review of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway alignment in Ondo State.
The development adds another layer to the long-running controversy surrounding the ambitious highway project, which has faced debates over its route, environmental implications, funding, approvals and the impact of construction on communities and businesses.
For the Ilaje stakeholders, however, the central issue is whether a project conceived as a coastal highway should bypass a significant portion of Ondo’s coastline, and they are now asking the Federal Government to address that question before construction advances further along the disputed alignment.