The Olatawura Commission of Enquiry was a judicial commission established by the Cross River State government in 1978, headed by Justice Olajide Olatawura, to determine the ownership of the disputed Stubbs Creek Forest.

The Olatawura Commission of Enquiry was a judicial commission established by the Cross River State government in 1978, headed by Justice Olajide Olatawura, to determine the ownership of the disputed Stubbs Creek Forest. 

Key Details

Purpose: The commission was set up to resolve a long-standing land dispute between the Ekid (Eket) and Oron people in present-day Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, over the ownership of the Stubbs Creek Forest.

Proceedings: The Ekid people, through their counsel, presented a 1918 Privy Council judgment that had already settled the ownership of the land. They argued that the legal principle of res judicata (a matter already judged) applied, meaning the issue could not be re-litigated by the commission.

Outcome: The commission's proceedings were effectively halted on the first day after Oron's counsel, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a respected legal figure, agreed with the Ekid counsel's argument and recused himself. The commission subsequently wound up, accepting that the matter had already been settled by the highest court at the time.

Legacy: The commission's handling of the case is often cited in the region as a precedent for legal finality in the land ownership dispute, which resurfaced in subsequent years and led to a similar ruling by the Justice Ephraim Akpata Commission in 1993. 

Justice Olatawura later served as a Commissioner for the Nigerian Police Service Commission (PSC) and was also a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.