Diko community in Niger protests 500‑hectare land allocation for solar farm

On Wednesday, residents of Diko in Gurara Local Government Area, Niger State, protested the allocation of roughly 500 hectares of farmland to Abuja Steel Mills Limited for a solar farm and industrial park.

The demonstrators—youths, women, elders, and masquerades—marched to the proposed site, chanting “Ba ma so, ba ma yi” (We do not want it) and asserting that the land is ancestral property that cannot be appropriated without their approval.

Some residents claimed that company officials had previously tried to prospect for solid minerals in the area, contradicting the community’s understanding that the project was purely agricultural.

They also said that mining equipment owned by the company had once been seized, handed to the police, and later returned.

An anonymous resident accused the state government of misleading the community about the project's purpose, asserting that mining, not farming, was intended for the land.

Another resident, Aishatu, called the development “worrisome and disheartening,” and accused Governor Mohammed Umar Bago’s administration of neglecting local farmers and vulnerable residents.

The demonstrators urged the government to reverse the allocation, warning that losing the farmlands could jeopardise livelihoods and disturb local peace.

The protest occurred less than a week after the Niger State Government formally transferred the land to Abuja Steel Mills Limited for a solar farm and industrial park during a groundbreaking ceremony in Diko.

At the ceremony, Governor Bago described the project as a landmark initiative intended to reshape the state’s industrial landscape and attract sustainable investment.

According to the governor, the solar farm and industrial park are components of his administration’s plan to turn Niger State into a leading investment destination and to create jobs for residents.

He also announced plans to gazette roughly 200,000 hectares of land from Diko to Tafa along the Kaduna border for industrial development, stating that the state intends to leverage the AKK gas pipeline and its extensive land resources to become a major industrial hub.

The protest underscores rising tensions between the government’s push for industrial development and local communities’ concerns over land rights and livelihoods.