TheCable

Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, says the state government annexed parts of the Federal Government College (FGC) land in Malali, over security challenges.

Sani spoke on Tuesday at a meeting with members of the Federal Government College Kaduna Old Students Association (FGCKOSA) at the government house.

TheCable reported how members of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) and students of the school protested against the encroachment of the land by the Kaduna government.

The association accused the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, of taking over 800 plots of land belonging to the school.

Sani said the 1976 land use act entrusts all lands in a state under the control of the governor who has the “power to allocate and reallocate land, especially if it borders on public interest”.

“So, I believe the former governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai decided to annex the land because of security challenges which have been compounded by ungoverned spaces,” he said.

“The former government in its wisdom felt it did not have to wait for insecurity to happen around the FGC (Kaduna) before taking action, because the portion of the land annexed borders river Kaduna and Keke community of new millennium city where series of kidnap cases have been reported.”

The governor said he would visit the school to assess the situation, adding that the matter would be resolved through dialogue rather than a legal battle.

In his remarks, Mike Magaji, leader of the delegation, expressed dissatisfaction over the encroachment of the school land.

He demanded that the association be carried along in the efforts to resolve the issue.