A Bauchi State High Court presided over by Justice Aliyu Bin Idris has restrained the State Security Service and the Bauchi State Government from further entering a vast tract of land in Fito, Ganjuwa Local Government Area.
Justice Idris gave the order on Monday after hearing an ex parte motion filed by Barrister Abdullatif Gwani Isa in suit number BA/251/2026 on behalf of the landowners: Hajiya Fatima Abdullahi, Ishaq Mohammed Kobi, and Murtala Isma’il.
The plaintiffs sued the Ministry of Land and Survey, the Attorney General of Bauchi State, and the SSS, Bauchi Command Headquarters.
Barrister Isa told the court that the plaintiffs are the lawful owners of the land in Fito, which they acquired through lawful purchase and grants allocated by the Ganjuwa Local Government Authority.
He said that since acquiring the land, the claimants have exercised undisturbed ownership and possession, including farming and demarcating it into smaller plots for sale, without interference until the events leading to the suit.
According to Isa, in 2020 the Ministry of Lands acquired portions of land from various individuals, including Hajiya Fatima Abdullahi, to enable the SSS to establish a training school. He said that purchase was limited to a defined area and did not extend to the land now in dispute.
He added that in 2024, the SSS expressed interest in purchasing an additional 208 plots from Hajiya Fatima. After she submitted a letter of intent to sell, the SSS did not respond, prompting her to continue marketing the plots to the public.
Isa alleged that the SSS, acting in concert with the Ministry of Land and Survey, entered the claimants’ land without legal authorization, notice of acquisition, or payment of compensation. He said the SSS had begun mounting beacons and demarcating the land in an attempt to annex it illegally.
He further alleged that agents of the SSS issued death threats to the claimants, stating they would shoot anyone who entered or worked on the land, thereby depriving them of their possessory and ownership rights.
Isa argued that the claimants’ land has never been lawfully acquired for public purpose under the Land Use Act. He said that unless restrained, the defendants would continue trespassing and could permanently alienate the claimants from their ancestral property.
After hearing the submission, Justice Aliyu Bin Idris ordered the defendants to stop entering, mounting beacons, demarcating, or otherwise interfering with the applicants’ possessory rights over the land in Fito along Gubi Dam, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The judge adjourned the suit to June 18, 2026.
