Farmers sue Bauchi govt over land allocation to rice coy | Tellwell Newspaper
Tellwell Newspaper, Abuja – Nigeria:
From Ahmad SAKA, Bauchi
A group of farmers and pastoralists from Zindiwa community in Udubo District of Gamawa local government area of Bauchi state, has sued the state government over alleged allocation of 10,000 hectares of farmland to a rice processing company, Tiamin Rice Limited.
The suit was filed before Justice Rabi Talatu Umar of the State High Court number one on behalf of the litigants by Mohammed Bello Yaba of Zindiwa Rice Farmers Cooperative Society against Bauchi state government with Tiamin Rice Limited, the state’s Ministry of Lands and Survey and Attorney General as co-defendants.
The plaintiffs were seeking a declaration that the allocation of the 10,000 hectares of land from No. 3 Udubo grazing reserve to Tiamin Rice, being a private company, was “illegal, null and void and of no effect, having not complied with due process of the law.”
The plaintiffs were also seeking a declaration that the state government did not validly deserve No. 3 Udubo grazing land prior to its allocation to the company. They were also seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the land in dispute.
In a motion ex parte, the counsel to the plaintiffs, Barrister Muhammad Alqasim, said his clients are the indigenous communities of Zindiwa whose forefathers owned the vast reserve area which now forms part of the grazing reserve.
According to the motion, in 1986 the then Bauchi state government promulgated a law declaring their ancestral land as No.3 Udubo grazing reserve, after which the original owners were granted permit as holders of vast expanse of the land for farming and pasturing.
Alqassim said Tiamin Rice approached the plaintiffs in April 2021 and told them that it had acquired the land which was part of the grazing reserve, accusing the company of clearing additional 5,000 hectares in addition to the initial 10,000 hectares without conducting environmental impact assessment.
He accused the defendant of commencement of work on the said land by clearing, blocking cable routes, water points, which caused erosion, flooding and other environmental damages.
When the case was mentioned, the counsel to the the first defendants Saidu Muhammad Tudun Wada filed a preliminary objection and asked the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to the 1999 constitution as amended on the land use act 2004 which invested in state governors executive powers on land allotment.
He said the plaintiffs did not have any existing personal right over the 10,000 hectres of land in dispute because they are not tenants, just like any other herder has a permit to graze on the said land, arguing that the suit is not justifiable because it did not disclose a valid cause of action against the first defendants.
Tudun Wada said Tiamin Rice paid the Federal Ministry of Environment the sum of N275,000 fees as cost for workshop and field data gathering in respect of the environmental impact assessment, and the company also paid additional N211,000 as assessment fee to the same Ministry, claiming the company carried out all the necessary legal steps for the commencement of the land mark and expansive Rice Irrigation Project.
He argued that the Tiamin Rice was the first company to embark on large scale industrial and mechanized farming project in Bauchi state which would provide 100,000 jobs to farmers, mill workers and other professionals, among others.
Tudun Wada further argued that the project would not affect herding activities in Bauchi state, and the permit given to herders to graze their cattle is not tantamount to ownership of the said land.
Presiding Judge Justice Rabi Talatu Umar adjourned the suit to 15th February 2023 for continuation of hearing.
