From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
A Kano State High Court, presided over by Justice Ibrahim Musa Muhammad, has ordered the Kano State government to pay N2.6 billion in damages to Tiamin Multi Services Global Limited for the unlawful demolition of its property.
The awarded costs include N2.125 billion for development expenses, N500 million in general damages, and N10 million for legal fees.
The court also mandated the defendants to vacate the premises immediately and barred them from further interfering with the property. Justice Muhammad declared the revocation of the company’s land rights, communicated via a letter dated September 3, 2021, from the Kano State Bureau for Land Management, as unconstitutional and in violation of the Land Use Act.
He stated, “The purported revocation of the plaintiff’s right of occupancy… without notice at all is unconstitutional, null, void and of no legal effect whatsoever.”
Furthermore, the judge affirmed the validity of the company’s Certificates of Occupancy (LKN/COM/2017/116, recertified as LPKN 1188, MLKN01622, and MLKN01837), confirming its lawful ownership. He condemned the state government’s forceful takeover and demolition during the ongoing legal proceedings as unjust.
The case, initiated in 2019 by Tiamin Multi Services through its counsel, Saidu Muhammad Tudun Wada, against the Kano State government, the Commissioner for Justice, and the Kano State Bureau for Land Management, stemmed from a dispute over land on Court Road, Gyadi Gyadi, Tarauni Local Government Area. The property, under construction, was revoked and demolished by the state government.