Gombe allocates Mechanics Village shops despite court order on disputed land

The Gombe State Government has allocated shops, sheds and container spaces at the Mechanics Village to automobile technicians despite a High Court judgment ordering the evacuation of structures from a disputed portion of the property.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Daurabo S. Sikkam of High Court No. 9, Gombe, in Suit No. GM/116/2026, the court declared Emir General Integrated Limited the lawful owner of a 1.30-hectare parcel of land along the Gombe-Bajoga Road, near the National Union of Road Transport Workers office, and upheld the company's Certificate of Occupancy No. GM/15926.

Justice Sikkam ruled that the state government's award of a construction contract to Grandscope Construction Limited on the disputed property, as well as the demolition of the claimant's structures and subsequent construction activities, were illegal and unlawful. The court granted a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents and representatives from further interfering with the claimant's possession, and ordered them to vacate the land and remove structures and other items placed on it. It awarded N15 million in special damages, N50 million in general damages and N7,200 in costs, with 10 per cent annual interest until the judgment debt is fully paid.

Daily Trust learnt that the state Ministry of Trade and Industry recently distributed allocation documents to associations of mechanics and other automobile technicians operating at the Mechanics Village, in an exercise led by Commissioner for Trade and Industry Nasiru Muhammad Aliyu. Under the allocation, the National Automobile Technicians Association received 500 container spaces, 60 sheds and eight shops; the Gombe Association of Technicians and Allied Trades received 220 container spaces, 27 sheds and three shops; and the panel beaters' association received 37 container spaces, five sheds and one shop.

NATA North-East zonal chairman Ahmad Waziri Usman commended Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for the initiative and pledged the association's support for the government, but the allocations have raised questions over whether the facilities fall within the parcel covered by the court judgment and, if so, the legal basis upon which they were allocated. Counsel to Emir General Integrated Limited, Barrister Sulaiman Abdurraheem, urged the state government to comply with the judgment, including payment of the N65 million damages awarded and removal of structures covered by the order, saying that where government intends to acquire land covered by a valid Certificate of Occupancy for public purposes it must follow the appropriate legal procedures. Counsel to the state government, Barrister Musa Adamu Kumo, declined to comment on the substance of the dispute but confirmed an out-of-court settlement remained possible.