Nigeria, Jan. 7 -- The Government of Akwa Ibom State has rejected claims by the Ekid People's Union that it owns land within the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, describing such assertions as "false, misleading and a distortion of the judicial record."

In a statement on Tuesday, signed by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Udom, the state government said it was compelled to respond in the "overriding public interest," despite a pending court case instituted by the same group.

The government stated that, contrary to claims circulating in the media, the historic case of Ntiaro and Ikpak vs. Ibok Etok Akpan and Edoho Ekid, decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1918, did not vest ownership of Stubbs Creek...