About 50 armed security personnel allegedly from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State were said to have stormed National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), examination centre located at Gaskiya Road in Zaria and took over the property. 

According to the management of ABU, the property was leased out to NBAIS for some years and after the expiration of the lease, the board refused to peacefully release the property which left ABU with no other choice than to forcefully take over the property.

ABU management claimed that the property was leased to NBAIS some years ago, and the action was to forcefully take over the property since the board that were hitherto occupying the property was unwilling to peacefully release it after the intention was communicated formally to the registrar.

When contacted, the NBAIS Registrar, Prof. Muhammad Shafi`u Abdullahi, confirmed that the property was leased out the board by ABU as a takeoff secretariat some years ago and when the Board moved to their permanent site, they decided to convert the property to their examination operations centre. He added that the board followed all procedures required for the acquisition of the property, but he was suprised by the resent action of ABU management.

The NBAIS boss regretted that efforts by the board to meet with the Vice Chancellor for discussion on the contentious issues about the property have been unfruitful; adding that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has been informed about the development.

Meanwhile, the Director, Public Affairs of ABU, Auwal Umar, explained that the action to forcefully reclaim the property was sequel to the failure of the NBAIS to willingly release the property after several efforts made by the university to that effect.

Recall that the NBAIS examination has been scheduled to commence September 23rd, 2020. If this dispute is not quickly resolved, it may affect the over 40,000 candidates expected to write the exam at the centre.