The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a restraining order against the Nasarawa State government and security agencies, preventing them from arresting farmers or interfering with their rights, pending the resolution of a legal dispute over the alleged forcible seizure of 10,000 hectares of farmland.
Justice Peter Lifu delivered the ruling in response to a fundamental rights motion ex parte, filed by Sambo Vongjen Esq on behalf of the affected farmers.
The farmers claimed that the Nasarawa State government seized their ancestral lands for agricultural projects without offering any form of compensation or alternative livelihood.
Felix Upav Saaior, representing the affected Tiv communities, asserted in the affidavit supporting the motion that “the government’s actions would displace the farmers, depriving them of their only source of livelihood.”
He described how the farmers woke up on June 10, 2024, to find their cultivated farmlands and crops destroyed by government agents, with security forces overseeing the operation.
The court granted the request for temporary relief, providing a reprieve for the farmers while the case proceeds. The respondents in the case include the Nigerian Army, the Inspector General of Police, and the Nasarawa State Governor, among others.