FG ordered to pay N1.1trn compensation to Niger state community over damages caused by Zungeru hydropower plant

A high court in Minna, Niger state, has ordered the federal ministry of power to pay N1.1 trillion as compensation to Samboro community in Madaka district, Rafi LGA over damages caused by the construction of Zungeru hydro dam.

The suit marked NSHC/ Kut/6/2023 was filed in April 2023 by Abubakar Usman, the village head of Samboro and 2,844 other members of the community.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Mohammed .A. Mohammed, presiding judge, held that the construction of Zungeru dam in Samboro has caused damages to the farmland and other economic trees in the community.

The judge agreed that it is the act of the defendants in the construction of dam project that led to the continuous flooding and erosion in the community.

The judge held that the flooding and erosion have led to the destruction of the plaintiffs’ sources of livelihood and ejected them from their ancestral homes.

He added that the plaintiffs, having suffered from the actions of the defendants, were entitled to monetary compensation.

Consequently, Mohammed issued a perpetual injunction “restraining the defendants, their servants, agents, privies and or assigns whosever and howsoever from trespassing or further acts of trespass or doing any act or actions, conduct of breach prejudicial and or reprehensive to the plaintiffs’ right, interest ownership, possession and occupation on the land situate, being and lying at Samboro community, constituting about 7,868 hectares of land in Rafi local government area of Niger state”.

“An order is hereby given directing  the 1st defendant to pay to the plaintiffs, forthwith, the sum of one trillion, one hundred and fifty billion, five hundred and ninety-five million, forty-seven thousand and two hundred and eighty-eight naira  (N1,150,595,047,288) as monetary compensation for the destruction of their farmlands, houses, ponds,  sabotage to their economic welfare and survival, untold hardship and total annihilation of all their resources of livelihood in Samboro Community in Rafi local government area of Niger state,” he added. 

“That an order is hereby given directing the 1st  defendant to pay the sum of One hundred million naira (N100,000,000) as general damages and cost of prosecuting this suit and legal representation and ten percent post judgment interest per annum.”