Communities beg Bala to mediate land dispute in Bauchi LG
Four Fulani communities of Kangere District and Tirwun in Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi state have pleaded with Governor Bala Mohammed to urgently, intervene and save them from losing their ancestral lands to the local government council.
Mohammed Sani, who spoke on behalf of the affected people of Gilliri, Runde Bin, Natsira and Bagale on Monday, said almost all of them are peasant farmers who rely solely on cultivation of land to earn a living.
He decried that authorities of the Bauchi Local Government has made living unbearable for the inhabitants of the four communities by taking over large portions of their farmlands, leaving them with only two hectares per household.
“I am here to speak on behalf of the Fulani communities of the affected area where Bauchi Local Government is taking over our farmlands from which we get our farm produce for survival.
“It all started one day, when a group of people led by Sarkin Yamman Tirwun came from the local government council and informed us that they have been assigned to take over our farmlands as authorised by the local government chairman.
“When they came, they claimed that they were directed by the local government chairman to take over some parts of our lands, leaving us with only two hectares per household.
Now, let’s say someone with four or five sons that are married and live in one house, how will two hectares of land be enough for them to site their house and at the same time farm there? Sani asked.
He noted that the action of the local government officials prompted them to write a letter of complaint to Governor Bala Mohammed, seeking his intervention.
Following their letter, Sani noted that the governor sent a delegation to the local government that called all the aggrieved Fulani communities to a meeting at the local government secretariat with a view to resolving the matter.
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He said after the meeting, they were told to go back to their respective homes with assurances that, as soon as possible, government officials will visit the affected areas to issue them with certificate of occupancy.
Sani lamented that even after that, the officials of the local government have remained adamant in total disregard to the directive of the governor.
The affected communities while pleading with the governor to instruct the local government chairman to return their farmlands, equally, urged the state assembly to make a law that will restrict them from tempering with people’s lands.
He said that the governor had made it categorically clear that for people to have lived in that place beyond 40 years makes them bonafide members of the area.
Sani who expressed fears that the situation if not checked, is capable of causing serious problem in the area, said as elders, they are doing everything possible to calm the youths, believing that Governor Bala as an ambassador of peace will not allow the issue to degenerate to crisis.
