The Open Forum Care for Humanity Foundation has called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to urgently withdraw its January 6, 2026 press release on the legal status of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, warning that the position taken by government undermines justice, environmental protection, and people-centred conflict resolution.
In a detailed press statement issued in Uyo on Monday, the organisation said extensive reviews of historical records, court judgments, colonial documents and stakeholder claims show that the state government’s interpretation of the 1916 Supreme Court and 1918 Privy Council judgments on Stubbs Creek also known historically as Okoyak, Okoiyak or Akoiyak—is flawed and potentially dangerous.
Open Forum recalled that the land dispute over the creek dates back to 1914, when two Ibeno communities, Mkpanak and Upenekang, instituted legal action to determine ownership of the area. Ekid people were joined as defendants in the suit, claiming the land as “Akoiyak Ekid.”
The Supreme Court in Calabar dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims in December 1916, a decision later upheld by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in October 1918.
According to Open Forum, twelve years after the Privy Council ruling, the colonial government designated the area—covering Ine, Okoyak and Weldderham Creek—as the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve under the Forest Reserve Order Act of 1930. The group insists that neither Ekid people nor other claimant communities, including Ibeno and Mbo, were paid compensation for the acquisition, a situation it says persists to date.
The organisation further argued that the forest reserve was historically administered as a regulated fishing settlement under strict forestry laws, prohibiting permanent structures, village status, burial of corpses within the reserve, and land ownership in fee simple. Any deviation from these rules, it said, would amount to illegality.
Open Forum expressed concern over the Akwa Ibom State Government’s January 6 press release, issued through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Uko Udom, SAN, stated that the 1918 Privy Council judgment vested ownership of Stubbs Creek in no ethnic group and granted title to no party.
Describing this interpretation as unprecedented, Open Forum warned that declaring the reserve a “no man’s land” contradicts historical records, compensation payments previously made to Ekid communities for de-reserved land, and persistent claims by Ibeno and Mbo stakeholders.
The group also faulted the state government’s readiness to allow the routing of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway through the forest reserve without due process, including formal de-reservation and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), noting that conservation experts regard Stubbs Creek as one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in southern Nigeria.
Open Forum further criticised alleged land allocations to private companies within the reserve without compensation to host communities, warning that such actions pitch the state against established law and environmental science.
On the legal front, the organisation stressed that the Land Use Act does not extinguish beneficial ownership of ancestral land and must be read alongside Section 44(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates due process, adequate compensation, and access to judicial redress in compulsory land acquisition.
The group condemned what it described as the branding of Ekid People’s Union (EPU) leaders as “terrorists” for demanding compensation, and called for the withdrawal of police petitions and ongoing prosecutions against EPU officials, including its national chairman, Dr. Samuel Udonsak, and secretary general, Sir Barr. Bassey Dan Abia Jr.
Open Forum commended calls for dialogue by Senator Ita Enang, as well as advocacy by civil society organisations under the Save Stubbs Creek Campaign, which insist that rerouting the coastal highway is essential for environmental justice, climate resilience and long-term economic stability.
The organisation renewed its appeal for intervention by the Obong Victor Attah-led Akwa Ibom Elders Council and urged all parties to de-escalate tensions in the interest of peace and future generations.
“True development must not come at the cost of ecological collapse and institutional failure,” Open Forum said, reaffirming its commitment to what it described as the Akwa Ibom dream of excellence and sustainable progress.
The statement was signed by Citizen Matthew Koffi Okono (MKO), Founder and President of Open Forum, and dated February 2, 2026.
