High Court Restrains NAF, Evicting Occupants of Bauchi NHP Housing Units

High Court Restrains NAF, Evicting Occupants of Bauchi NHP Housing Units

By Ahmad SAKA, Bauchi

A Bauchi State High Court, presided over by Justice Mu'azu Abubakar, has granted an interim injunction restraining the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) from evicting residents of 270 housing units of the National Housing Programme (NHP) in Bauchi State.

Counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister Alkassim Mohammed, filed a motion ex parte in Suit No. BA/158M/2025 before the state high court, asking the court to urgently stop the Air Force from violating the fundamental human rights of the occupants.

The plaintiffs in the case - Mukhtar Aminu, Ya'u Aliyu, Abubakar Muhammad, Ibrahim Musa, Abdulrahman Haruna, and 183 others - had dragged the federal government to court over the decision to hand over the estate to the NAF.

The respondents in the case include the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Special Operations Command, Bauchi, the Chief of Staff of the Command HQ, Bauchi, the Commander of the Command HQ Bauchi, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Alkassim told the court that the houses were originally built to support low-income earners and should not be allocated to the Air Force, which already has its own housing schemes. He accused the government of sidelining ordinary Nigerians who had earlier expressed interest in the scheme.

After listening to the plaintiff's counsel, the presiding judge granted an order directing all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive motion.

Justice Abubakar said, "An interim order of injunction is hereby made restraining the respondents, whether by themselves, agents, privies, or cohorts, from further threat, harassment, or doing anything that is likely to breach the applicants' constitutional rights under Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice."

The court directed the 1st-5th respondents to maintain the status quo or stay all actions pending the determination of the motion on notice and adjourned the case to September 11, 2025, for further hearing.

You may recall that there was tension when the federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Housing, officially handed over the housing units to the Nigerian Air Force last Wednesday. The residents protested against the action and have bet President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Bauchi State Governor Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to intervene.