By Lukman Olabiyi
Justice Solomon Ayenaje of the Nasarawa State High Court, 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.
The directive, issued by Justice Ayenaje, was premised on oral application moved by the plaitiffs’ counsel, T. J. Aondo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on May 27, 2025, followed the hearing of a suit brought by Tiv community leaders from Awe and Obi Local Government.
The plaintiffs are seeking to stop what they describe as the unlawful and forceful acquisition of their ancestral lands by the state government and its agents.
Presiding over the matter, the court made an order for !!!reservation 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 of the Governor 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 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 Umar Abubakar Apeshi.
The matter was thereafter adjourned to June 11, 2025, for the hearing of all pending applications.
The plaintiffs, led by Aondo Tivlumun L., 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, the Nasarawa Geographic Information System (NAGIS), the Ministries of Lands and Agriculture and the Nigerian Army.
Also joined are the Chief of Angwantashi, Umar, and Farm Network Services.
The plaintiffs claimed that the government was using Executive Order No. 3, signed by Governor Abdullahi Sule on December 29, 2023, to forcibly take over their land.
They argued that the order is unconstitutional and inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, the Land Use Act, and international instruments like the UN 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 also a violation of their long-standing customary land rights.
They also asked the court to declare that the characterization of Tiv indigenes as settlers,sparticularly in the National Accord Newspaper of March 25, 2025, and in official statement is discriminatory, unlawful, and unconstitutional.