RismadarVoice Reporters
January 22, 2026
Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, has appealed to the people of Ikot Udo in Ika Local Government Area and their neighbours in Ukwa East Local Government Area of Abia State to embrace peace as a pathway to sustainable development.
Senator Eyakenyi made the appeal at Ikot Udo, during a joint peace parley convened by Akwa Ibom and Abia State Governments to address the lingering boundary dispute between the two communities.
Conveying the goodwill of Governor Umo Eno, the Deputy Governor said that upon assuming office, the Governor resolved to reach out to all villages and local government areas in the state, particularly those previously deprived of development, by implementing a bottom-top approach to governance.
Senator Eyakenyi noted that the same philosophy informed Governor Eno’s swift intervention in the boundary crisis between the two sister states, recalling that he reached out to Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, upon learning of the land dispute.
Reiterating the truce earlier reached by both states, Senator Eyakenyi explained that each state had agreed to construct its portion of the Ikot Udo/Ukwa East road up to a common merging point.
She announced that Akwa Ibom State Government has awarded a contract for the construction of a 3 point seven-kilometre road from Urua Inyang to Ikot Udo, while Abia State Government has equally awarded a 12-kilometre road from Oredze to Ikot Inyang.
The Akwa Ibom Deputy Governor also dismissed rumours suggesting that a city gate would be erected at the boundary upon completion of the road, describing such claims as false and misleading.
Also speaking, Deputy Governor of Abia State, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu, said the meeting was to ensure lasting peace between the two communities and said that both state governments had issued Executive Orders authorising the construction of the road from their respective ends up to Ikot Udo.
He warned individuals involved in arson and the fomentation of violence to desist from such acts, urging them to consider the long-term consequences of their actions.
In their remarks, Chairman of Ika Local Government, Barr. Utibe Nwoko, and his Ukwa East counterpart, Mr. Chibuna Akara, commended Governor Umo Eno and Governor Alex Otti for their peaceful disposition and appealed to residents to give peace a genuine chance and called on security agencies to take decisive steps to ensure lasting peace in the area.
