Tension in Suleja as residents protest move to turn University land into a market

Community leaders, students, and workers in Suleja, Niger State, took to the streets on Thursday to protest an alleged plan by the state government to convert land meant for a university campus into a market.

According to a report by Daily Trust, the protest was led by the Suleja Development Association (SUDA), who gathered demonstrators at the proposed site for the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University campus, carrying placards and calling on Governor Umar Mohammed Bago to immediately reverse the decision.

The disputed land, popularly called the “Field Base,” holds deep historical value. It originally served as an operational camp during the construction of Abuja. In 2007, the property was handed over to the Niger State Government to thank the Suleja community for giving up its ancestral land to create the Federal Capital Territory.

Following the handover, the state allocated the property to IBB University, Lapai, to set up a campus.

Prof. Sulaiman Dangana Abdul, who read a statement on behalf of the protesters, stated that the entire emirate rejects the plan to hand the land over to a private developer,  “Nigerian Army Properties Limited” to build a market. He explained that residents had initially celebrated the university project because it would bring higher education directly to their doorstep.

Umar Shuaibu, a key stakeholder of the region, stated that one of the goals of the Emirate is to establish a tertiary institution and that Emirate already has plenty of markets, many of which are underutilized. He mentioned the Suleja International Market, the Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim Market near Maje, and a new modern market currently under construction around Madalla.

“Suleja Emirate is the only urban centre in Niger State that is lacking any single tertiary institution,” Shuaibu said, adding that the university had already started running some programmes at the site.

The protesters expressed frustration that their previous attempts to meet with the governor to resolve the issue peacefully were completely ignored. They were taken aback by reports that the state government had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to transfer the land for commercial development.

The stakeholders have issued a two-week ultimatum to the state government to cancel the market project and that if the decision is not reversed before the deadline, the community will be forced to take legal action to reclaim and protect the land.