The Yan Bahead Association and Sheikh Tijjani Bala Kalarawi, an Islamic cleric, are claiming a plot of land in Kano state’s Fagge local government area, sparking a new land dispute.
The cleric has been given permission to use the land, which is next to the Kantin Kwari textile market, for preaching, but the drivers have reportedly been using it for more than 70 years.
However, when the cleric was heard expressing gratitude to the governor for granting him the contentious land, a crisis began to develop.
One of the Yan Bahead Association’s leaders, Sunusi Abdullahi Mohammed, told reporters in Kano that the cleric’s assertion that the governor gave him the land is “misleading and not true.”
According to Mohammed, the association has been occupying the property for more than 75 years. It obtained a Certificate of Occupancy 13 years ago and has continuously paid ground rent, including the most recent payment for 2025–2026.
“There is no way you will go to the government and make such payments if your certificate is not active,” he stated.
He added that the Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KNUPDA) had rejected the association’s request for permission to develop the land, only to learn later that it had been given to someone else.
We own the space. The location does not belong to him just because he uses it for preaching. He first approached us forty years ago to ask to use the space for Ramadan and Maulud, but he has since developed a claim to ownership,” Mohammed said.
He emphasised that the land, which is used to repair cars and tricycles, benefits thousands of young people.
Sheikh Kalarawi responded by claiming he is the property’s legitimate owner and that he has all the paperwork required to prove it was given to him.
He claims that before Governor Yusuf gave him the land through the Ministry of Land in February 2024, it had lain idle for decades.
He added that he had paid all necessary fees, including approval and improvement charges, and had received KNUPDA approval in March 2025 to construct a school on the property.
He showed our reporter the original documents and declared, “I have every document showing rightful ownership of the place.”
Abduljabbar Umar Garko, the state’s Commissioner of Land and Physical Planning, has not responded to a series of enquiries, according to Murtala Shehu Umar, the ministry’s Director of Public Enlightenment.
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