The Right to Property and Compulsory Acquisition in Niger State: Farmers, Herdsmen, and Land Rights

The intersection of compulsory land acquisition, agricultural rights, and pastoralist land use creates acute private law tensions in Niger State, North Central Nigeria, a region significantly affected by farmer-herder conflicts. This study examines the legal framework governing compulsory land acquisition in Niger State, with specific attention to the adequacy of compensation provided to farming communities displaced by government and corporate infrastructure projects between 2020 and 2024. Drawing on the Land Use Act 1978, the Niger State Land Tenure Law, and constitutional property rights provisions under Section 44 of the 1999 Constitution, the research employs a mixed-methods approach that combines legal text analysis with structured interviews involving 80 affected farmers in Minna, Bida, and Kontagora. Findings reveal systemic underpayment of compensation, bureaucratic delays in processing claims, and the near-total exclusion of herder communities from land acquisition processes, despite their significant dependence on traversable land corridors. The study also examines how alternative dispute resolution has been used to manage land-related conflicts between farming and herding communities. The research contributes original primary data on the lived legal experiences of rural agrarian communities in the Middle Belt and recommends the enactment of a comprehensive land compensation framework for Niger State. Keywords: compulsory acquisition, property rights, Niger State, farmer-herder conflict, land compensation