The Guardian | 30 May 2025Nasarawa court orders status quo on disputed 10,000 hectares of Tiv land
by Abel Abogonye
The Nasarawa State High Court sitting in Obi has ordered all parties in a land dispute involving 21 Tiv communities, the Nasarawa State government, and the Nigerian Army to maintain the status quo and preserve the disputed 10,000 hectares of ancestral farmlands pending the determination of the suit.
Justice Solomon Ayenaje’s order was based on an oral application moved by the Plaintiffs’ counsel, T. J. Aondo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on May 27, 2025, following the hearing of a suit brought by Tiv community leaders from Awe and Obi Local Councils.
The plaintiffs are seeking to stop what they described as the unlawful and forceful acquisition of their ancestral lands by the state government and its agents. The court made an order for the preservation of the res and held that no party should take further steps that could affect the land until the issues are fully resolved.
At the resumed hearing, the court was scheduled to take up the plaintiffs’ originating summons challenging the Executive Order No. 3 of 2023, issued by the Governor and carried out contrary to the relevant laws without legislation. However, an application for joinder was introduced by A. U. Idris, representing Farm Network Services, an interested party in the case.
Responding to this, the court granted five days to the state counsel, Alhassan, to respond, two days for the plaintiffs to reply, and an additional five days for all parties to file their further affidavits. It also directed all interested parties to file counter-affidavits to the originating summons within seven days, including the Osoho of Agwatashi, Dr Umar Abubakar Apeshi.
The matter was then adjourned to June 11, 2025, for the hearing of all pending applications.
The plaintiffs, led by Aondo Tivlumun L., Dr Francis Uger, Upav Felix Saaior, and 15 others, filed the suit on behalf of Tiv residents of 21 affected villages, including Akaha, Utsuwa, Usula, Udugh, and Chabo. They are challenging the legality of the Nasarawa State government’s acquisition of over 10,000 hectares of land, alleging that it is being carried out without lawful justification, prior consent, or compensation.
According to them, the land forms the economic and cultural lifeblood of their communities.
The defendants in the matter include the Governor of Nasarawa State, the Attorney-General of the state, the Nasarawa Geographic Information System (NAGIS), the Ministries of Lands and Agriculture, and the Nigerian Army. Also joined are the Chief of Angwantashi, Dr Umar, and Farm Network Services.
The plaintiffs claim that the government is using Executive Order No. 3, signed by Governor Abdullahi Sule on December 29, 2023, to forcibly take over their land. They argue that the order is unconstitutional and inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, the Land Use Act, and international instruments like the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The plaintiffs are urging the court to declare the land acquisition unconstitutional, unlawful, and amounting to ethnic depopulation. They also want the court to declare the land acquisition invalid on the basis that Executive Order No. 3 conflicts with constitutional and statutory law and violates their long-standing customary land rights.
They also ask the court to declare that the characterisation of Tiv indigenes as “settlers”, particularly in the National Accord newspaper of March 25, 2025, and in official statements, is discriminatory, unlawful, and unconstitutional.
