The Kano State Government has ended the protracted land dispute between the natives of Rimin-Zakara and Bayero University, Kano (BUK), which involved about 6,000 settlers.

The Rimin-Zakara community, an old settlement around the BUK old site, has been in dispute with the management of the institution for the past 40 years over the ownership of their land, involving years of litigation, protests, encroachment, conflicting claims, and security challenges, including loss of life.

Unveiling the settlement plan yesterday, the Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Abduljabbar Umar, said the government was committed to finalising the lingering dispute.

He explained that the intervention followed a peaceful resolution with the settlers and property owners through the resettlement of landowners, the allocation of plots, and payment for structures.

According to him, following renewed confrontations in early 2025, Governor Abba Yusuf directed a “comprehensive, lawful, humane and final solution” to the crisis.

Consequently, the commissioner disclosed that residential plots had been reserved and allocated to verified beneficiaries under the approved Rimin Zakara/Rijiyar Zaki and Jajira/Garun-Iya schemes, while monetary compensation for eligible claims and structures was being processed.

According to him, the settlement preserved over 85 per cent of BUK’s landholding for its present and future academic, research, residential and infrastructural development.

On his part, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, represented by the Commissioner for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Nura Ma’aji, said the government had committed billions of naira to compensation and resettlement of settlers.

He explained that the BUK management also made significant sacrifices by conceding portions of land originally reserved for its future expansion.

The governor also commended the BUK management, governing council, and the entire community for their patience and cooperation, assuring them that the government would continue to protect BUK’s lawful boundaries and support its expansion.

However, Yusuf warned that the settlement should not be seen as the government validating illegal land transactions, saying the compensation granted to innocent purchasers must not become “a business model for land grabbers.”

He explained that compensating the affected persons did not amount to recognising the validity of private transactions involving BUK or government land, adding that many claimants presented private sale agreements and acknowledgements between buyers and sellers, which did not constitute valid statutory or customary titles capable of transferring the ownership of university or government land.