The Kaduna State Government says it has allocated a land to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, for the College of Agriculture and Animal Science.
Daily Trust reports that the land, said to be earmarked for ABU’s animal husbandry followed the decision of the Kaduna State Government to take over 74 hectares of a land measuring 338 hectares belonging to the university at Mando, Igabi LGA.
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The land in Mando has been a subject of dispute between the state government and ABU, with the university accusing the state government of attempting to “grab it.”
However, the Director General of Kaduna Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA), Malam Ismail Umaru Dikko, on Monday said the land which was originally allocated in 1965 to the Northern Veterinary Experimental Station and succeeded by the College of Agriculture and Animal Science of ABU had been unlawfully subdivided without the consent or approval of the state government.
Dikko said 81 hectares of the land had been sold into 900 illegally laid out plots while 426 plots have either been fully developed or are at various stages of construction.
He said based on G-Item No. 1060, the College of Agriculture and Animal Science had only developed 47 hectares of the land for educational purpose and staff housing with another 34.5 hectares for agriculture.
The DG said the un-utilised land has constituted a security threat to the entire metropolis which necessitated the need to introduce mitigating measures such as re-planning the entire land in line with the Urban Renewal Programme and to comply with the reviewed Kaduna Master Plan Law, 2016.
He said in order to avoid instances where more portions of the land are subdivided illegally, the state government had mapped out 74 hectares which will be developed for residential purpose with facilities such as cemetery, markets, hospitals made available.
