Court Halts Takeover Of Housing Units By NAF

A Bauchi High Court has issued an interim injunction restraining the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) from evicting residents of 270 housing units of the National Housing Programme (NHP) along Ningi Road, Bauchi.

The court was presided over by Justice Mu’azu Abubakar.

The court, in Suit No. BA/158M/2025, ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive motion.

The case was filed by Mukhtar Aminu, Ya’u Aliyu, Abubakar Muhammad, Ibrahim Musa, Abdulrahman Haruna, and 183 others, who are challenging the federal government’s decision of handing over the estate to the NAF.

The applicants argued 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.

They accused the government of sidelining ordinary Nigerians who had earlier expressed interest in the scheme.

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 Headquarters, Bauchi, the Commander of the Bauchi Command and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

LEADERSHIP Weekend reports that the federal government had on Wednesday officially handed over the housing units to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) despite residents’ outrage.

The Court on Thursday said, it made the decision after listening to and considering the submission made through a written address by the counsel for the applicants, Alkasim Muhammad ESQ.

In the interim order, Justice Abubakar stated, “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’ constitution right 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 1st-5th respondents to maintain status quo or stay all action pending determination of the motion on notice.

The court, in a Certified True Copy (CTC) of order issued by the court’s registrar, Ado Adamu, adjourned the case to September 11, 2025, for further hearing.

Earlier, residents of the housing units expressed anger over the federal government’s recent decision to hand over the property to NAF.

Speaking with journalists, secretary of the Residents’ Committee, Muhammad Kabir, lamented that Air Force personnel moved into the premises and ordered them to vacate.

“We woke up to see Air Force officers occupying this place and telling us to leave. We are pleading with the federal government to reconsider, because we have nowhere to go. These houses were built to help low-income earning Nigerians, not the military, which already has its own housing schemes.”

Kabir vowed to challenge the decision in court, “We will not break the law; we have every right to seek legal redress. The NHP was never meant to be handed over to an institution like the Air Force.”

He further described the situation as unjust, stressing that some occupants had lived in the estate for up to six years and deserved fairness.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had earlier described the residents as “illegal settlers” and issued them a 48-hour eviction notice, sparking protests and appeals for President Bola Tinubu and the minister of Housing, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, to intervene.

LEADERSHIP reports that the housing project, initiated in 2016 under the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, was designed to provide affordable accommodation for civil servants and low to middle-income earners across the country.