By Ahmad Saka
A Bauchi State High Court presided over by Justice Aliyu bin Idris has restrained the State Security Service (SSS) and the Bauchi State Government from further entering a vast expanse of land situated at Firo in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of the state over alleged encroachment.
The order was granted following an ex parte motion filed by Barrister Abdullatif Gwani Isa in Suit No. BA/251/2026 on behalf of the landowners, Hajiya Fatima Abdullahi, Ishaq Mohammed Kobi, and Murtala Isma’il.
The plaintiffs instituted the suit against the Bauchi State Ministry of Lands and Survey, the Attorney-General of Bauchi State, and the State Security Service, Bauchi Command Headquarters.
Counsel to the plaintiffs, Barrister Isa, told the court that the claimants are the lawful owners of the vast land located at Firo, having acquired title through lawful purchases and allocation grants from the Ganjuwa Local Government Authority.
He explained that since acquiring the land, the claimants had exercised uninterrupted ownership and possession rights, including farming activities and demarcation of plots for sale, without interference until the recent dispute.
According to him, in 2020, the Ministry of Lands acquired a portion of land from various individuals, including Hajiya Fatima Abdullahi, to enable the SSS establish a training school. He argued that the earlier acquisition was limited to a specifically defined area and did not extend to the land currently in dispute.
Barrister Isa further stated that in 2024, the SSS expressed interest in purchasing an additional 208 plots from Hajiya Fatima Abdullahi. However, after she submitted a letter of intent to sell, the SSS allegedly failed to respond, prompting her to continue marketing the plots to members of the public.
The lawyer alleged that the SSS, acting in concert with the Ministry of Lands and Survey, later entered the disputed land without legal authorisation, notice of acquisition, or payment of compensation.
He told the court that officials of the SSS had commenced mounting beacons and demarcating the land in what he described as an attempt to illegally annex the property.
Barrister Isa also alleged that agents of the SSS issued death threats to the claimants, warning that anyone who entered or worked on the land would be shot, thereby depriving the owners of their possessory and ownership rights.
He maintained that the land had never been lawfully acquired for public purposes under the Land Use Act, warning that unless restrained by the court, the defendants might continue acts of trespass and permanently dispossess the claimants of their ancestral property.
After listening to the submissions of the plaintiffs’ counsel, Justice Aliyu bin Idris ordered the defendants to stop further entry, mounting of beacons, demarcation, or any form of interference with the applicants’ possessory rights over the land situated at Firo along Gubi Dam pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The matter was adjourned to June 18, 2026, for further hearing.
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