21 June 2008
The people of the sleepy village of Sabon-Gari, a town located on the Keffi-Abuja expressway, are seething with rage and crying for justice over the murder of one of their own, Mohammed Ghali, 45, over an age-long land dispute with the Sidi Umaru family of Keffi.
Weekly Trust gathered that on that fateful day, Saturday, May 17, people of the village woke up to see a group of surveyors with members of the Sidi family trying to carve out a portion of the disputed land. The villagers then mobilised their youths to stop the action. However, irked by the intervention of the youths, the Sidi family threatened to deal with them. They were alleged to have gone back to Keffi and mobilised thugs in about seven vehicles and attacked the village. During the attack, one Bako Abashiya was alleged to have hit Ghali with a club in the head which they alleged had led to his collapse and eventual death. Weekly Trust gathered that several villagers sustained injuries while women were said to have fled to neighbouring village.
The Imam of Sabon Gari and father of the deceased, Malam Ghali, told Weekly Trust that he has no comments but he leaves everything in the hand of Allah.
It's an age-long battle
The community which has been waging a legal battle with the family of Sidi Umaru over the ownership of Sabon-Gari lands, told Weekly Trust that initially, they took the matter lightly until when Umaru started selling their farmland which they said pushed them to organise themselves to protect their lands. But the Sidi family on the other hand, claimed that Sabon-Gari was their ancestral land and that they have been collecting farm produce the land up to 1982. Danjuma Sidi, head of the Sidi family, said he has all the certificates of occupancy to the land since 1979. The land dispute between the two has been going on for over two decades.
The village head of Sabon-Gari, Malam Rilwanu Maiwada, told Weekly Trust that Sabon-Gari was neither colonised nor enslaved and they would do everything possible to protect their land. He said villagers settled in the area before Keffi was founded. "I don't know the basis of their claims that we don't have the right over our land here in Sabon-Gari. Our ancestors were the first to settle here before Keffi was founded. Our ancestors migrated from Zaria and settled here. Our village has a wall. The case between us and the Sidi family has been going on for a very long time. They came to beg our ancestors for a piece of land to farm and later, they turned around to claim the land," he said.
He alleged that the Sidi family have sold 35 hectares of their land and called on the government to intervene.
But Sidi insisted that by law, the lands in Sabon-Gari belong to him. He told Weekly Trust that he has the Certificate of Occupancy of the land as far back as 1979 and that he has been collecting royalties from the lands since then.
"Our great grandfather, Abdu Zanga, was the founder of Keffi town and Sabon-Gari was his farmland. My father, Sidi Umaru, inherited the land from his father. The present people in Sabon-Gari came from Mafa and pleaded with our grandfather for a farmland as they were displaced because of war. Parts of the agreement were for them to give our father farm produce in return. This they have been doing until 1982 when they stopped ," Sidi said.
On the recent crisis which led to the death of Ghali, Sidi said it was the villagers who attacked the people of Shamaki before the incidence degenerated.
"Before the incidence, the people of Sabon-Gari have been threatening one Danjuma Yaya of Shamaki that they would kill him and the case was reported to the police and it was even taken to court. What I was told was that there was an instruction that the youths of Sabon-Gari should attack anyone they see around the disputed land and that was what caused the problem. One person died of exhaustion. He was not killed," he said.
Madakin Sabon Gari, Papate Usman, told Weekly Trust that they have already petitioned the Inspector -General of the Police to look into the matter and the police have promised to act accordingly.
The Keffi DPO, Malam Dikko, confirmed the incidence to Weekly Trust, saying 24 people have been arrested and taken to Lafia before they were granted bail. He said the case has been taken to court and it would come up for hearing on July 3.
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