Kano-Maradi rail: Court restrains FG from taking Kano lands without compensation

The Kano State High Court has restrained the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Kano-Maradi rail project contractors to refrain from forcefully taking over Kuyan ta Inna lands in Kano State without payment of proper compensation. The presiding judge of the court, Justice Usman Na’abba, gave the order on Monday at the resumed hearing of […]

The Kano State High Court has restrained the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Kano-Maradi rail project contractors to refrain from forcefully taking over Kuyan ta Inna lands in Kano State without payment of proper compensation.

The presiding judge of the court, Justice Usman Na’abba, gave the order on Monday at the resumed hearing of a case between the landowners and the ministry, alongside six other respondents.

The court had earlier in April this year granted the prayers of the applicants, now judgement creditors, asking the court to order the contractors not to take their lands with force for the project until they are paid appropriate compensation, which the court granted.

However, two months after, the ministry filed a fresh application asking the court for time enlargement to file the application before the same court to set aside the default judgement it granted.

Justice Na’abba, during the sitting, granted the first prayer of the applicant, but asked their counsel to inform their client to refrain from further encroaching on the lands until the court decides on the case.

He said the Land Use Act of 1978 has given Nigerians the right to lawfully own a property, which could only be taken by government after payment of appropriate compensation.

Counsel to the applicants, Jimmy Macaulay, argued that allowing them to file the application will ensure that justice and fairness is equally served to them.

On his part, however, counsel to the land owners, Umar Usman Danbaito, told the court that there is no basis for setting aside its earlier judgement as it is on merit.

“We also learned from the judgement creditors that even last two days, there was an attempt by the ministry to encroach and clear the land despite the court order, and this is clear contempt,” Danbaito added.

Leader of the land owners, Isa Jibrin Isah, alleged that a consulting firm that was hired to pay them compensation called them to Janguza military barracks in the state and gave them an amount that is not up to 10 per cent of the market value of the lands, which, he said, they resisted.

Isah said more than 70 of them are affected by the encroachment despite legally acquiring the land from the state government more than 10 years ago.

“We are hereby appealing to the Kano State government, our federal lawmakers and the Kano emirate to intervene and make sure justice is done to us to avoid chaos. You can’t give 300,000 to 600,000 to someone with a land of five or six million and expect them to keep quiet,” Isah said.