Protest erupts in Niger as Diko community rejects 500-hectare land allocation for solar farm

Residents of Diko successful Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, on Wednesday, staged a protestation implicit the allocation of astir 500 hectares of farmland to Abuja Steel Mills Limited for the constitution of a star workplace and concern park.

The protesters, made up of youths, women, elders and masquerades, marched to the tract earmarked for the project, chanting “Ba ma so, ba ma yi” (We bash not privation it), insisting that the onshore belongs to their ancestors and should not beryllium taken without their consent.

Some residents alleged that officials of the institution had earlier attempted to imaginable for coagulated minerals successful the area, contrary to what they said was presented to the assemblage arsenic an cultivation project. 

They claimed that immoderate mining instrumentality belonging to the institution had antecedently been seized and handed implicit to the constabulary earlier being released.

A resident, who spoke connected information of anonymity, accused the authorities authorities of misleading the assemblage implicit the intent of the project, alleging that mining activities, alternatively than farming, were being planned connected the land.

Another resident, Aishatu, described the improvement arsenic “worrisome and disheartening,” accusing the medication of Governor Mohammed Umar Bago of neglecting the interests of section farmers and susceptible residents.

The demonstrators urged the authorities to reverse the allocation, informing ...