The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kaduna Branch, yesterday, led residents of six communities in Igabi Local Council in a peaceful protest against alleged illegal demolitions and human rights violations by the military.

The protest, which included affected residents of Mallam Auta, Ungwan Yohanna, Ungwan Aboki, Sabon Ungwan Loya, Ungwan Railway, and Ungwan Alhassan, was staged in Kaduna. The demonstrators marched to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), carrying placards and chanting slogans that military authorities were not above the law.

Addressing journalists, NBA Kaduna Chairman, Baba Lawal Aliyu, said the association was deeply disturbed by the demolition of ancestral homes and farmlands, arbitrary arrests without warrants, and forced evictions in Igabi, despite subsisting court injunctions.

He cited the demolition of Ungwan Aboki on August 15 under military guard, which, he said, left hundreds of families, including women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, homeless. He also warned that Hayin Mallam Auta had been marked for imminent demolition in defiance of court orders.

According to him, “the High Court of Kaduna State had in multiple rulings between 2018 and 2021, ordered all parties to maintain the status quo.” He described the military’s actions as a contempt of court and a “dangerous affront to constitutional democracy”.

Aliyu referenced the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu (1986), noting that no government agency, military or civilian, is above the law. He urged the federal and state governments, civil society, and the international community to intervene, warning that continued disobedience of judicial authority would not be tolerated.

The protesters demanded an immediate halt to further demolitions, particularly in Hayin Mallam Auta, and called for the release of persons allegedly arrested without warrants.

Aliyu assured the communities that the NBA would continue to defend their rights, saying, “Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum — let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

Reacting earlier, the Commander of the Infantry Corps Centre (ICC), Jaji, Major General Usman Abdulmumin Yusuf, defended the military’s actions. He said illegal communities within Jaji Cantonment posed serious threats to national security and hampered training activities. He added that the Army was engaging the Kaduna State government on relocating affected settlements, insisting that no lawful houses were demolished.
Photo: Protesters Lawyer Kad. Caption: The protesters, yesterday