A Niger State High Court sitting in Minna has awarded N1.1 trillion compensation to the Samboro community in Rafi Local Government Area over the untold hardship they face because of the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project in the area.
Justice Mohammed Mohammed of the court gave the ruling in suit no: NSHC/6/2023 as filed by Abubakar Usman and 2,844 others against the federal government.
Their lawyer, Mohammed Ndarani, told the court that his client had undergone untold hardship over land encroachment and pollution which is in contravention of the laws of the land.
Passing down his verdict on Thursday, Justice Mohammed agreed with the submissions of the applications.
The judge said,
- “The plaintiffs are the original occupants of the large area of land located at Samboro Community, which makes up approximately 7,868 hectares in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
- “This land is the subject of this case, as stipulated by section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and sections 8(c) and (h) of the Hydro Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission Act, 2010.
- “They have been forcibly ejected from their ancestral homes, they have endured unimaginable hardship, and the defendants’ joint and multiple acts during the construction of the Zungeru Dam Project have resulted in ongoing flooding and erosional confrontations on the community”.
- “An order is hereby given directing the 1st defendant to pay to the plaintiffs, forthwith, the sum of one trillion, one hundred and fifty billion, five hundred and ninety-five million, forty-seven thousand and two hundred and eighty-eight naira (N1,115,595,047,288) as monetary compensation for the destruction of their farmlands, houses, ponds, sabotage to their economic welfare and survival, untold hardship and total annihilation of all their resources of livelihood in Samboro Community in Rafi Local Government area of Niger State.”
Lawyer reacts
Mohammed expressed delight with the judgment, saying the people had been vindicated.
- “The plight of the peasant farmers who have been undergoing untold hardship over the years has been restored by the court. I do believe that the judiciary is the hope of the common man.
- “People should always pursue justice by way of the judicial process and the law courts must always be seen as the surest route to justice,” he told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday.
More insight
- Zungeru Hydroelectric Power project is a hydroelectric power plant situated in Niger State.
- It is estimated to meet 10% of Nigeria’s total domestic energy needs.
- Because of the placement of the power plant, surrounding communities have sued the federal government, demanding compensation for the infringement on their lands.
