Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says Bauchi
State Governor, Bala Mohammed while serving as Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, demolished people’s houses because they encroached on government
land.
Falana, therefore, stated that it was funny that Bala could
turn around to say that herdsmen have a right to stray into people’s land and
reside in forest reserves without government permission.
The senior advocate said this in a write-up he sent on Saturday.
He wrote, “Under the Bala Mohammed administration in the FCT, thousands of houses were demolished on the grounds that they were illegally built on landed properties belonging to the Federal Government.
“The ex-minister wanted to demolish the entire Mpape housing
over a million people. He had claimed that the owners of the various properties
had trespassed on the land belonging to the Federal Government.
“The people whose properties had been marked for demolition
briefed our law firm to seek legal redress. On behalf of the community, we
approached the FCT High Court for urgent intervention. In an epochal judgment
delivered by the Justice Kutigi, the planned demolition was halted.”
The activist argued that while Section 41 of the
constitution guarantees freedom of movement, it does not give anyone the
freedom to settle anywhere.
He further stated that Section 43 of the constitution
provides that every person is entitled to own an immovable property in any
state in Nigeria.
Falana said it was curious that the governor who had
defended herdsmen carrying AK-47 rifles could go on to demolish a house storing
such guns.
The senior advocate said, “Governor Bala Mohammed has
ordered that a house being used as a den of criminal activities in Bauchi and
ordered that 1,000 rifles found therein be confiscated. But the same governor
said last week that herders be allowed to bear AK 47 rifles illegally in spite
of overwhelming evidence that the weapons are being used to take over
farmlands, kidnap people and rape women.
“So if the building warehousing 1000 AK-47 rifles in Bauchi
was demolished by Governor Bala Mohammed why is he asking Governor Rotimi
Akeredolu to allow herders armed with scores of AK-47 rifles to operate in Ondo
State without licences issued by the appropriate authorities?”
Falana wondered why the Bauchi State government led by
Mohammed would mount pressure on corporate bodies engaged in the exploration of
crude oil in the Alkaleri Local Government to pay compensation to members of
Baranbo community when as the governor said, the land belongs to no one.
He, therefore, asked the governor to stop deceiving
herdsmen.
The senior advocate said, “Governor Bala Mohammed should
stop misleading herders to acquire land for cattle business without complying
with the Land Use Act, Urban and Regional Law, Forestry Law, Anti Grazing Law
in the affected states.
“In particular, the attention of the governor ought to be
drawn to Section 42 (1) (e) and (g) of the Forestry Law Cap 56 Laws of Ondo
State, 2006 which provides that whoever in any forest reserve, except with the
authority in writing of the prescribed officer, digs, cuts, turns or cultivates
the soil or makes a farm or plantation; pastures cattle or permits cattle to
trespass or trespasses in any part of a forest reserves in which trespass shall
be prohibited by an order of the governor or during any period specified in an
order of the Governor shall be liable on summary conviction as the court may
impose or to imprisonment for five years or to both.”
He asked Mohammed to emulate Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of
Kano State and a few others by embarking on the establishment of ranches for
herders for the production of meat in commercial quantities.
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