Akwa Ibom State has recorded the influx of no fewer than 50,000 displaced people from Bakassi, Mr. Victor Iyanem, Akwa Ibom State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, has said.

Iyanem told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the returnees, who are indigenes of the state, were in Mbo, Oron, Okobo, Uruan, Udung Uko, Nsit Eket, Eket and Ibiono Ibom Local Government Areas.

He said the number of returnees were increasing daily.

"This belies the claim by the Cross River State Government in the past that Bakassi was part of the state. Bakassi was never part of Cross River State," he said.

"I say this because when you are internally displaced, you go to the nearest place where your next and nearest kins are.

"The returnees are within a very short distance from Akwa Ibom State and going to Cross River will entail more suffering," he said.

The Commissioner added that the state government had designated a 'virgin land' for the establishment of a new town for the re-settlement of the returnees.

"The relocation is capital-intensive but right now what the people need is immediate relief.

"They need medicine, food, blankets and mattresses and for the long term, they need new settlements as we cannot share them to other families," he said.

According to the Attorney-General, a seven-member committee charged with the responsibility of resettling the returnees had started work.