Leaders of thought from the Ilaje communities of Ondo State and Itsekiri communities of Delta State have agreed to work together to oppose the alleged rerouting of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway from the coastal corridor to inland communities.
The resolution was reached at a joint meeting of representatives of the two ethnic nationalities held in Lagos on Saturday, September 19, 2026.
The resolution was signed on behalf of the Itsekiri ethnic nationality by Barrister Austin Nonen Oboroegbeyi and Comrade Amaechi Omagbitse, and on behalf of the Ilaje ethnic nationality by Dr Benson Enikuomehin, FCPA, and Dr Adeolu Austin Efotan.
The stakeholders called on the Itsekiri Nation to issue a statement rejecting what they described as the alteration of the original coastal alignment of the highway by the Federal Ministry of Works under the supervision of the Minister, Senator David Umahi.
They insisted that the highway should retain its coastal character and pass through the coastal communities of Ondo and Delta states before continuing to other parts of the Niger Delta.
The position adds to growing opposition from stakeholders in Ondo State over the alignment of the project.
Earlier this month, lawyers and community stakeholders had accused the Federal Ministry of Works of bypassing several Ilaje coastal communities and moving the route inland through parts of Edo State.
Umahi, however, said engineering investigations had revealed difficult soil conditions, including deep layers of peat, which influenced the revised alignment.
In their latest resolution, the Ilaje and Itsekiri stakeholders rejected the ministry’s explanation, describing the reasons attributed to the rerouting as false.
They claimed that construction along the coastal corridor, including the Ilaje communities in Ondo and the Itsekiri axis in Delta, would cost between N4 billion and N7.5 billion per kilometre, compared with between N7.5 billion and N12 billion per kilometre for the alternative inland route.
The groups also disputed the projected distance of the two alignments.
According to them, the stretch from Olosunmeta to the Itsekiri axis in Delta State is between 100 and 110 kilometres, while the proposed alternative route would cover between 170 and 190 kilometres.
They argued that the longer route would increase both the length and overall cost of the project.
The stakeholders further maintained that the alternative route presented difficult terrain and would require numerous bridges, while the coastal alignment would provide a more direct corridor through communities including Olosunmeta, Araromi, Abe-Oroyo, Ogogoro, Ugbonla, Apata, Awoye, Ugbege, Oghoye, Orere, Agogboro and Ode-Ugborodo.
The controversy over the Ondo alignment has intensified in recent weeks, with community representatives arguing that several coastal settlements have been excluded from the project.
A September 10 stakeholders’ briefing similarly listed communities including Ugbonla, Ilowo, Ilepete, Obe-Enikanoselu, Obe-Rewoye, Ikorigho, Jinrinwo and Awoye among areas they said had been bypassed.
At the Lagos meeting, the two groups resolved to establish a tactical committee comprising representatives of the Ilaje and Itsekiri nations.
The committee is expected to engage the Federal Government and other relevant authorities with a view to securing what the stakeholders described as the original vision of the coastal highway.
It will also be responsible for mobilising traditional institutions, youths, women, professionals and other stakeholders across the affected communities.
The groups further resolved that legal action should be considered where necessary to pursue what they described as justice, equity and fairness.
They also agreed to prepare an all-inclusive memorandum involving traditional rulers, religious leaders, market women, opinion leaders and other stakeholders from the Ilaje and Itsekiri communities in the Niger Delta.
The memorandum is expected to be presented to relevant government authorities and institutions to make the case for retaining the Lagos-Calabar Highway along the coastal corridor of Ondo and Delta states.
The stakeholders also resolved to establish an implementation committee to coordinate and monitor the execution of the decisions reached at the meeting.
The renewed alliance between the two groups marks a widening of the campaign over the disputed alignment, following earlier calls by Ondo stakeholders for the Federal Government to review the route.
The earlier campaigners said their objection was not to the highway project itself but to the exclusion of coastal communities from a project conceived as a coastal transportation corridor.